The Unwanteds Tales
by halukiforces
Summary: A bunch of random AUs and one-shots all about the best book series ever aka The Unwanteds.
1. Coffeeshop AU (Aaralyee)

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Aaron Stowe groaned and buried himself deeper into his blankets, still half-asleep. The beeping of his alarm continued to sound, getting louder and louder. His eyes shot open as the loud noise failed to stop killing his ears. He scowled and glared at his still-beeping alarm.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up!" he huffed. He banged his fist on the annoying thing and let out a sigh of relief when it turned off. Another wave of tiredness seeped over him, and he fell back into his bed. He closed his eyes and nearly fell asleep, until-

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

This time, Aaron was fully awake. He shot out of bed and ripped the stupid alarm off the wall. "That's right, you better not try to wake me up this early!" he said to it.

Then, he looked at the time. It was 7:03. In two minutes, the bus would be coming! In a panic, he quickly put on his favorite black jeans and a band t-shirt, along with a pair of sneakers. He didn't bother to fix his hair in the mirror, although he already knew it was a crazy mess.

Aaron raced outside his house, only to find his identical twin brother, Alex, standing there. He ran up to Alex, a frown on his face.  
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Aaron accused.

Alex turned to him. "Your alarm went off, shouldn't that be enough to get you awake?"

Aaron just shook his head and decided not to argue. The school bus pulled up in front of them and they both got on. Aaron stayed in the front, watching as Alex went to greet his friends in the back, as always.

Alex was way more popular than Aaron. He was known as the 'more liked twin.' He had a girlfriend, and he also excelled in all kinds of art. To Aaron, Alex seemed like the perfect person. He was popular, creative, and liked by everyone.

It was so frustrating.

Aaron didn't seem to have any friends these days. In his past, he'd been very controlling of the few friends he had. He was also bossy and mean to them. Now, he had pretty much learned his lesson and was improving on being nicer to others, but no one seemed to like him anymore. Yep, it was pretty depressing.

But then, out of the blue, someone came into his life and turned it upside down. It all started a month ago. He was working at the register, something he almost never did. He heard someone come in, but didn't look up until he heard a soft _ahem_. He looked up and he saw an extremely pretty girl, with tan skin, brown hair that was almost the exact shade as his, and light brown eyes. He nearly forgot how to breathe but quickly asked her what she wanted to order. Just a simple question like that, and he noticed her eyes filled with tears. He had no idea what to do. But, he assumed she had been having a bad day, so he did what he could to cheer her up. After that he saw her everyday after school at the coffee shop he had a part-time job at. Everyday, she ordered the same thing: an iced coffee. And everyday, she came exactly at 3:30. He had developed a major crush on her. There was only one problem: he didn't know her name.

He did know a few things about her, though. He knew she was the same age as him. He also knew she definitely liked the color green (since she wore it almost every day). She was also a very cheerful person, it seemed, and Aaron always looked forward to seeing her.

 _I just have to get through the school day, and then I'll see her,_ Aaron thought. The same thought ran through his head almost every day. Seeing her was a daily part of his life now, and he was glad she had come into it. Even if they had never had an actual conversation, she had become a very strong influence on his life. If only he could stop being shy and talk to her for once.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. He stared at the wall in all of his classes, only talking when his teacher asked him to. He sat alone at lunch, which was a common thing for him. His school might've been pretty big, but no one had ever sat with him. He wasn't too bothered by it anymore, though. He was used to it.

Aaron was relieved when the school bell rang, signaling that everyone could get out of this prison. He grabbed his backpack from his locker and walked outside the door. He spotted Alex with his group of friends and hurried onto the bus. He sat in the front seat and started on his homework since he couldn't do it at work.

Twenty minutes later, Aaron and Alex were let off the bus. "Have fun at work, Aaron!" said Alex with a smile. Aaron blushed slightly, wondering if he knew. _Did he know about the girl?_ If Alex had been watching him…

Aaron shook off the thought.

"Thanks," he told Alex. He smiled a little and ran over to get his bike. Finally, his favorite time of day had arrived.

Kaylee Jones sat on the bus on the long ride home, looking out the window. Her friend, Sky, kept trying to get her attention but she was _way_ too excited. And this kind of excitement happened once every day. When she got to see _him_.

Just the thought of him made her smile widen. He was extremely cute. He had chocolate brown eyes and brown hair that was normally messy. He was also taller than her. Not only appearance, but also his personality seemed great too. Although he seemed kind of shy around her, he was always really nice and sweet. She had met him a month ago.

That day, she had been having a pretty bad day. She had missed her bus, and it didn't help at all when she arrived late, and her teacher spent a solid twenty minutes yelling at her. At lunch that day, she stood up from her table to throw out her food, but someone slammed into her. The person's drink spilled all over her clothes. Everyone nearby had started to laugh, and the rude person didn't even apologize. She spent the rest of the day wishing she was invisible. Her friends didn't even bother to ask what was wrong, or why she looked upset. By the time she got home, she was done. Completely done.

And so, she decided to go to the Two Hearts Café to get an iced coffee, which turned out to be one of the best decisions she had ever made. The minute she saw that boy, her spirits were lifted. He had asked if she was okay, and genuinely seemed to care about her. She eventually grew happier just from being around him, and when she left, she knew something in her life had shifted.

Now, every day at 3:30, she went to her favorite coffeeshop. Not really for the coffee, although it was still nice, but just to see him. For a while, her goal had been to have an actual, real conversation with him. Not just an exchange of words. She really hoped she could talk to him today.

" _Today,_ " Kaylee whispered to herself. "I'll talk to him today."

"Who's him?" a voice asked.

Kaylee turned to see Sky staring at her, a little annoyed. Which of course, made Kaylee grin even more.

"How long have you been staring at me?" she asked.

"Almost ten minutes!" Sky complained. "Who're you thinking about?"

Kaylee just waved her off. "Nah, doesn't matter."

"Is it a booooooy?"

Kaylee flushed a deep red. "N-no!" she stuttered.

Sky grinned. "Aha! So it is! Who is it?"

Kaylee shook her head. "Just a boy.."

But her friend didn't seem to get the hint. Seriously, why couldn't she stop bothering her about her crush?

"What's his name?" Sky demanded, leaning forward far too eagerly. When Kaylee didn't respond, she said, "Kaylee Jones, don't tell me you don't know his name."

Kaylee sighed. "Fine…I _don't_ know his name. But I see him every day at that coffee shop I go too. He works there."

"Huh…" Sky said, leaning back into her seat. "I guess I _haven't_ heard of him…"

They sat in silence for a few minutes before the bus pulled up at Kaylee's house. Kaylee stood up.

"Have fun seeing that _boy_ today, Kaylee," Sky called after her as she got off the bus. It took all of Kaylee's willpower to not jump back on and strangle her. She ran inside her house and set her back down. She checked her watch. It was 3:20. She put her brand-new white jacket on and hurried out the door. She grabbed her bike and hopped on it. A smile exploded on her face. He was only ten minutes away.

"Aaron, can you get coffee beans in the back?" Aaron's boss shouted from across the room. His boss was a pretty intimidating looking man, although his personality didn't fit the description. Which was good, of course, since he used to mess up at this job all the time.

He nodded and hurriedly ran to get some. He ran to the hidden closet in the back, where large supplies of coffee bean bags were. Today, the coffee shop was unusually crowded. Apparently, everyone wanted to get coffee at exactly 3:30.

Aaron grabbed a few bags of the coffee beans and gave it to his co-workers who were making the coffee. He ran back to the cash register and took orders. He wanted to look for the girl, but the coffee shop was so crowded he couldn't tell if she was even here. She probably was, though, right? He hoped so.

The crowd kept shouting their orders at him, all talking over each other. Aaron looked helplessly over at his boss who had a frown on his face. His boss walked up to him.

"Aaron," he said urgently. "I can take it from here. Go hand out the orders to our costumers."

"Okay," Aaron replied reluctantly. He didn't feel that comfortable with a large amount of people, but this was his job. He did _not_ want to get fired. He grabbed a few of the finished coffees and handed them to the people who had ordered them. Eventually, the crowd got smaller.

Just as Aaron was going to hand out his last coffee of the day, he slammed into someone. The coffee he was holding spilled all over the unfortunate person's new white jacket.

Aaron gasped and grabbed a tray of napkins, handing it to the person. "I'm so, so sorry!" he said, not quite looking at the person yet. He felt really bad. How could he have been so careless?  
Then, he looked up. His eyes widened. It was _her_.

Today, her hair was up in messy bun, although it still looked pretty neat. She looked flawless as always. Then, he noticed it was _her_ white sweater that was stained with coffee. This made him feel ten times worse.

"I'm _so_ sorry…" he said again, meeting her eyes. He was utterly confused when a bright grin spread across her face.

"Don't apologize!" she said happily.

"Why…why are you saying that?" Aaron asked. "I spilled my coffee on your new white jacket! Let me at least make it up to you! I can buy you a new one."

The girl shook her head. "I don't need a new one…I have more at home anyways."

"Oh…" Aaron muttered, kind of disappointed. "Well can I still at least buy you anti-stain spray?"

She laughed, nearly making his heart stop. Her laugh sounded amazing. If he could, he would listen to her laugh all day.

"N-no that's fine!" she insisted.

"Oh…okay…well I should get back to work…" Aaron said. He mentally cursed himself. _Why hadn't he said more?_ He started to walk off, his heart sinking in despair.

But then, the girl intercepted him. He nearly exploded in joy and surprise. She actually would talk to him again? "Wait! There _is_ a way you can make it up to me!" she said.

Aaron just stared at her; afraid his hopes would be getting up too high. "How?"

The girl took a deep breath, her eyes meeting his. "Well, since it's a Saturday tomorrow… how about you take me out to lunch?"

Her face mirrored his own: hopeful and a little too happy. Aaron nearly gasped. _Did she just ask me out?_ he thought. He almost pinched himself to see if this was a dream. They were finally having a conversation…and she had _asked him out_.

Aaron controlled his wild thoughts and smiled. "That sounds great! Meet here at 12:00?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I'll definitely be there."

Aaron almost face palmed himself. They still didn't know each other's names! He really didn't know why he'd never bothered to ask. After a month of seeing each other every day, he probably should've gotten that thought quicker. He thought of a solution. He held out his hand to her. "Oh, I'm Aaron by the way."

She beamed and took his hand, an electrical feeling pulsing through his own, like nothing he'd ever experienced. "I'm Kaylee."


	2. Remembering

"I'm sorry..." Alex whispered to nobody.

A chilly breeze blew into him. A few lights were on inside the mansion, but otherwise it was dark. It was 1:00 am, and everyone else had gone to bed a long time ago. He was glad he was alone now. He needed some time to himself after the events that had just occurred. Just a few hours before had been Meghan's funeral.

The whole time, he had felt dead, not really feeling much. He didn't cry. He had been trying to be strong then, and he was trying to be strong now. When he gave a long speech about her, everyone teared up. Alex feared he was tear up too. But he didn't. When Artimeans came up to him and said things like "I'm sorry for your loss" he didn't cry. He might've looked strong on the outside, but on the inside he was breaking into a million pieces. He could only take so much breaking down before he let it all out. But he needed to stay strong for his people.

Despite all the horrible events, he was glad he still had his two other best friends, Lani Haluki and Samheed Burkesh. They had always stood by him. He might've had fights with them, but they always made up eventually. And then there was Sky. He needed her too, and he found he really couldn't live without her. She had Ben with him through so much. They were part of his lifeline. If he lost anyone else...he would fall apart. He needed them, now more than ever. And this included all of the people and creatures who had shaped him and helped him become a better person. They had all made a huge impact on his life, and all of them were alive and well. Except one person: Meghan. His third best friend wasn't with him anymore.

And he hated that.

He missed her. He missed having her to talk to whenever he had a problem. He missed hearing her sing and watching her dance. He missed fighting in battles with her. And hanging out with her at any random time of the day. She was his first friend in Artime, and she had been his neighbor in Quill. Her red hair and piercing green eyes were still engraved in his head. He tried not to forget what she looked like, but every day his image of her faded a little. Soon, she would only be a memory. But the memories from the past still haunted him.

He remembered the day it had happened. She had jumped in front of Samheed, and Alex was too slow. He had picked her up and carried her inside the mansion, screaming for someone to help. But, by the time the doctors came around, she was gone. It had been too late. And he blamed himself. He felt selfish, since Meghan had sacrificed herself and all, but he really felt it should've been _him._

It was the thoughts like these that were the ones he kept to himself. He would never tell anyone he wished he would've been killed instead of Meghan. Not even Lani or Samheed. They would say he was being extremely selfish, since he had the people of Artime counting on him. Not only that, but he was a mage. He needed to be selfless, but it was hard sometimes.

It was hard not to break down when he thought of her. He missed his best friend. He missed her so much it hurt.

Another chilly breeze blew into Alex, his red mage robe flying in front of him. He looked around one last time to make sure to coast was clear. Seeing no one, he sunk to his knees in front of the emotionless gravestone, _her_ gravestone. He took a shaking breath as he read the caption on it.

 _'Meghan Ranger_ ', it said, _'a very much loved and amazing Unwanted who had a beautiful singing voice and was an amazing dancer. We will never forget her._ '

Just reading those words, Alex started to tear up for once. "I'm sorry..." he whispered again. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. Look, I.."

He began to choke up but forced himself to hold himself together.

"I should've been there...I could've saved you. I know I could've..maybe if i had gotten there sooner and we had gotten the right things.."

His lips started to quiver and he blinked a few times. He inhaled sharply and stared down at her grave once more. _Don't cry_ , he thought.

"Don't cry," he repeated vocally.

"Don't. Don't.." a few tears escaped from his eyes. He sighed and shook his head, running his hands through his hair. His entire body began to shake with sobs.

"I've been-I've been talking to myself constantly...of ways I could've saved you. I've been thinking- t-thinking you could r-respond.." he choked out. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to stop crying. "I-this never should've happened!" he screamed, but no one was there to answer. No one ever was. She wouldn't ever answer him. _Why not?_

"You didn't have to jump in front of Sam! Why didn't you just pull him out of the way? Why did you push him out of the way?! Why did you have to _die_ , Meghan?"

"T-this wasn't supposed to happen! Why did you have to be a hero?! That's my job! I'm the hero, and I should've been killed. It should've been me! Not you! I can't believe you..." he sobbed, still shouting.

He furiously dug his hands into the grass and leaned closer to her gravestone. "A-and I've been looking everywhere. Anywhere I c-could to find a cure for d-death. Why did you have to?" he yelled, a little quieter now. He looked down at the grass and watched his tears fall to the ground.

"Why..did you have to?"

He was whispering again now. But no one answered. His best friend was gone. Meghan Ranger was gone. But he didn't want to believe that. He had a tiny twinge of hope left in his heart…that maybe he could still save her. But as powerful as he was, he knew no one could bring back the dead.

"I think about y-you every day. You were…you _are_ my b-best friend," he continued to whisper. He blinked a few times, fresh tears running down his face and hitting the ground. "I m-miss you."

"D-do you miss me? Do you forgive me?"

But no one answered, and no one ever did.

He sat back and hugged his knees. He tried to imagine her cold, dead body lying underneath the earth right now. He wondered if she could even hear him. He stared at her grave, but no one responded. The sound of the ocean and jungle were the only things that made noise. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, tears still streaming down his cheeks. Another breeze swept through the air. He slowly stood up, still staring at her grave. He would give anything to see her again.

He backed away slowly towards the mansion. He didn't want to go inside, but he knew he had to. He had to continue on with his life. He had to continue being a Mage and continue guiding the people of Artime. It was his duty, even if it was a duty he never signed up for.

He turned around and walked up to the mansion's entrance. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, opening the door slightly. Right before he entered, he turned, half expecting to see her standing there. But she wasn't. She wouldn't ever be standing again. _That's the cost of being a hero,_ Alex thought. _Sometimes, you fall down and never get back up._

Someday, he might see her again. When he died, he might. And he was looking forward to it. But, for now, he was alive. He was alive, and she wouldn't ever be. Now she was just a memory. She was a brave, fallen warrior of Artime. Deep in his heart, he knew he could never truly let her go.

He wiped at his tired, red eyes and refrained himself from crying again. It was hard not to. It was extremely hard.

He looked up into the star-filled sky, listening to the peaceful sounds of the jungle and the splashing of the waves against the shore. "I miss you," he whispered.

She didn't answer.

Meghan Ranger was dead, and he had to accept it.


	3. The Right Reason

The world of Artime was silent, everyone sleeping peacefully in their rooms. Everyone was asleep. Even Simber, along with all the animals and creatures outdoors. It had been a long and tiring day after the fight at Warbler.

The sun had set hours ago, and everyone had fallen under the spell of sleep except one girl: Lani Haluki. As much as she tried getting sleep, she couldn't. She kept replaying the events in her head. They were all horrifying and hopeful. Being rescued by Alex and the rest of the Unwanteds was like a dream. The fight with Warbler had been terrifying and desperate. But when they finally returned home, she was edgy yet happy. She half expected to be captured again. It was a relief to finally be off that island. She'd admit she thought Alex would never come.

But her worries wouldn't stop hitting her like a bullet. What if she hadn't been rescued? What if she'd never gotten those horrible thorns off? And worst of all: what if Samheed hadn't gotten home with her?

She shuddered at the thought. She hadn't realized until the passed few weeks of her and Sam's relationship. It was a bond that couldn't be broken. Sure, he may have used to been a jerk, but now he was...something else. He had changed, she could tell. But nothing made sense. It didn't explain why she felt her heart pounding in her chest whenever she saw him, or why her happiness rose to dizzying heights whenever he said her name. Nothing made sense with him anymore. And it was a wonderful and confusing feeling all together. It was a feeling that made her heart beat faster, and she was already pretty sure their platonic friendship had gotten on a much deeper level over the past month.

She remembered what everything had once been before Warbler. Before Warbler, Alex and her had basically been a thing. They hadn't really done anything, though. All she knew was that she had a crush on him, and he most likely had a crush on her. That was all. If anyone asked her about it, she would just reply, "she liked him."

Lani had never really thought of her romantic feelings. Her mind could be compared to a lake. Before Warbler, she only skimmed the surface of her emotions. She never really looked at the big picture. All she knew was that she liked Alex. She always preferred to just skim the lake and think nothing of it.

But then a reality check came into place. She was pulled under the lake's waters, as she was kidnapped for a month, and her emotions were hardly in check. And she started to realize the feelings she was developing were much deeper than just a skim over a lake. She was pulled under the lake's surface and she immediately was aware. She forgot about her crush towards Alex altogether and focused more on someone else. And it was obvious who that 'someone' was. She and Samheed had much more than just a 'crush.'

Thinking of her and Sam was a whole confusing process altogether.

Lani had no idea what was going to happen between them. She was scared during her time in Warbler, and her means of survival meant clinging to Samheed. He was someone she could never loose. Ever.

She did know one thing: she cared about him and maybe even loved him. She really didn't want to think about that, as she hardly had any idea of love and the meaning behind it. Her feelings were something she was certain of, though. If there was a word that was a mix of scared, amazing, happy, and worried, that would be what she was feeling.

But besides all of those, she was mainly feeling restless.

Lani groaned and tugged at her hair ferociously. She sat up, pulling the covers off of her. She felt exhausted, but no sleep would come. Her worries wouldn't stop pestering her, one after another. She attempted to lay back down, but the restlessness just wouldn't cease. A frustrated sigh came from her mouth. She looked around her room once more, and back to her bed. She rubbed her eyes a few times and let her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room.

There was no way she could fall asleep now.

"I'll go see Sam..." she whispered to herself. "Just to make sure he's safe."

Only then, she decided, would she be able to sleep.

She got out of bed and put on shoes and a shirt that wasn't sticky with sweat. She shivered a few times as the drafty air from the air vent blew into her. She grabbed a jacket from her closet and raced out of her room. Since her room was one of the last ones in the hallway, it took her a little while before she finally reached the end of the hallway. Her hopes deflated as suddenly as they had come. Only until she looked around did she realize she couldn't see the boys dormitories. For some reason, she had forgotten that little detail while she was in Warbler.

"I guess all go see him tomorrow..." she muttered, her heart sinking.

"See who?" a voice asked loudly.

Lani screamed and jumped about five feet in the air. She turned around to fight the person off only to find Samheed standing there.

Laughing his head off.

She glared at him. "Don't scare me like that!"

"You should've...seen...your face!" he said in between fits of laughter.

"It's not nice to sneak up on people in the middle of the night," Lani said.

"It's still funny, though," Samheed said a smile that made her heartbeat quicken. "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night, anyways?"

"I-" she said, starting to come up with a cover story. She sighed as she saw his expression. She knew she could never lie to him, and he knew it too. "I came to...umm...well... I came to see you."

His happy smile faltered and his expression turned to something she couldn't quite recognize. He leaned back against the railing of the stairs and looked like he wanted to say something, but Lani opened her mouth before he could.

She quickly shook her head. "But I have now! So I'll just be going to bed."

She started to turn around to go back to her room. As much as she wanted to talk to him, he didn't seem to want to talk to her.

But he surprised her. He walked over to her before she could enter the girls' hallway and gently tugged at her arm. "Hey...why don't we take a walk on the beach?

Lani nodded, letting out a silent sigh of relief. She was already feeling a weight lift off her shoulders.

They exited the mansion and walked outside. Lani was in awe of how many stars were really in the sky. It was beautiful here. It was always beautiful, here, and she had seemed to take a little of it for granted. Here, she had freedom, and on Warbler, no one did. For a month she hadn't seen the sun or the moon, and had hardly been able to tell what time it was. She hadn't even seen a glimpse of the outside world. It was horrifying. Everything about Warbler terrified her.

It was far, far worse than Quill. She bitterly remembered back in the day when she had thought of how Quill was such a horrible place. Although it still was, it was a far cry from Warbler. She liked Artime much better, of course. She knew where she belonged, and it was here. She _was_ safe here, right? Well, as safe as the life of any unwanted.

"Sam, why were you up in the middle of the night?" she asked breaking their silence.

"I couldn't sleep," he replied simply.

"Me neither," she said.

They took a seat on the beach, leaning their backs against a large palm tree and digging their feet into the sand. Lani opened her mouth.  
"I-I was really scared. I am really scared."

Samheed was quiet for a little. She looked over at him and saw a frown on his face. He sighed and looked back at her. She could see the exhaustion and fear engraved in his orange eyes, the same expression she had. "Yeah...me too."

She began stating her worrying thoughts. "I just keep thinking...what if you didn't come back with me? What if you were stuck on that island? I'd never see you again. I-"

She was cut off as Samheed pulled her into a tight hug. She leaned into him, noticing he smelled of chocolate. Probably because he had eaten some right before he went to bed. She put her arms around him too and shut her eyes tight.

"Lani, I'm not leaving you," he whispered into her ear. "I promise I'm not going to ever leave you."

"B-but what if-" she started to say, but Sam cut her off again.

"No," he said firmly. He pulled out of the hug and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't think that. I'm here, okay? I'm here. I won't ever let anything happen to you, okay?"

Lani stared at him. She'd never heard words like that come out of his mouth. He was never really the 'deep talk' type of person. But here he was now, saying things he'd never said to anyone.

She leaned back into his chest and put her arms around him again. After a moment, he did the same. She closed her eyes and hoped she wasn't going to suddenly cry. But even if she did, she knew he wouldn't judge her. She really couldn't live without him. She was thankful he was still here, breathing and alive. She could hear his heartbeat pounding in his chest at a fast speed.

"Do you think things will go back to normal?" Lani whispered. She prepared herself for his answer, and was a little scared to hear it.

Samheed let out a small laugh. "No, no I don't."

Lani smiled.

They leaned against each other. Lani rested her head on his shoulder, and for once, she felt peaceful and safe. They stayed like that for a while, and if she had to be honest, she really didn't want to move.

Moments later, Sam began to snore. She glanced over to see his eyes closed and his breathing calm. She usually never saw him like this. Peaceful.

She smiled to herself and leaned her head against his shoulder again. She liked this...strange feeling a lot. She closed her eyes and grew more relaxed each passing moment. Restlessness would no longer haunt her right now. For now, she had her best friend, who was possibly, without a doubt, turning into something more. There was no way they would ever be separated. They might've had their issues, but for now, they were together. A smile graced her lips, and she sighed contently. Tiredness was finally taking its toll on her. Her eyelids drooped and she finally felt the exhaustion from the day's events.

And, counting the seconds until she could see him again in the morning, she fell into a deep and blissful sleep.


	4. Summer Camp Rivalry (part 1)

Another year was gone and another summer was starting. It was the first day of summer, the day everyone went to their summer camps. Well, not everyone, but mostly everyone in the area had a camp they could go spent the summer at. And at the island they lived in, there were two camps. Camp Artime and Camp Quill.

As long as anyone had remembered, Camp Artime and Camp Quill had always been rivals. Why? They had many differences, and couldn't seem to accept the other.

Camp Artime was known as the 'more creative camp.' All the kids who were creative in any way went there for the summer. Camp Quill was where all the strong, intelligent kids went. Everyone there always excelled in almost everything, but the drawbacks were many. For one, they were practically emotionless.

One might say it was because of their camp director, Justine, who never let them have much fun. Another might say it was because of the things they did. All they did was work and study, preparing for the end of the summer when they had a big competition.

And every year, Camp Artime lost, and Camp Quill won. As devoted to winning as the kids of Camp Artime were, they tended to get more emotional over their loss, and every year, they grew less and less hopeful of winning.

Now, the kids of Camp Quill were always confident and cocky when it came to winning. They knew they would win, always. They considered Camp Artime a 'lesser camp.' It was serious business to win the competition. And whoever won got a huge celebration.

So, by now, anyone could tell how dejected Camp Artime was feeling. They had little hope left in their hearts, but they still enjoyed their camp. They considered it far more fun than Camp Quill, which was definitely true. They learned all types of art, crafts, and ways to use that to their advantage.

But nonetheless, no matter how skilled Camp Artime was, they never seemed to win the competition. They didn't have any certainty they could win anymore, which was a huge problem.

A problem they needed fixing.

And that is where the four heroes of this story come in: Alex Stowe, Lani Haluki, Meghan Ranger, and Samheed Burkesh. All of them are new campers, just arriving this summer. Instead of going to boring Camp Quill, they're going to Camp Artime instead. None of them have really talked much yet, but they will soon. And they each have very different stories...

"Alex, come on, we're going to be late!" Alex's twin brother, Aaron, yelled from the doorway.

Alex's eyes shot open and he flew out of bed. "Wait, we're going to camp today?!"

Aaron sighed. "Yes, Alex, yes we are. Did you forget?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Alex retorted as he changed into a more appropriate t-shirt and shorts. After he was done that he began tying his shoes. He missed Aaron's glare from across the room.

They had shared their room for as long as Alex could remember. Aaron was usually the more prepared one, and Alex seemed to lose track of things easily. Despite being twins and looking exactly alike, they couldn't have been more different.

Alex had always been nicer, while Aaron was rude to pretty much everyone. Alex had to constantly remind him to be less mean to people. Alex was also more generous and caring, while his brother was not. Not only that, but Alex had a creative streak in him. He always had, ever since he starting drawing in the dirt outside his house. Although Aaron was less creative than him, Alex could tell he still had a little creativity.

Today, they would be splitting their separate ways for the first time. And while Alex felt sad, he was looking forward to where he was going. He was going to Camp Artime, one of the most amazing, creative summer camps in the area. It saddened him that Aaron was going to Camp Quill. Camp Quill _never_ seemed to have anything fun. Which is why, at first, Alex had kept trying to get his brother to come to Camp Artime.

"It sounds more fun, and we can learn to be creative together!" Alex had said ecstatically.

Aaron had just looked at him and said dryly, "I'm not creative, and I'd prefer to be strong-minded and with the _intelligent_ people. Plus, I'm better at making ideas- Camp Quill is better for me."

Thinking back on it, Alex knew his brother was right. But that didn't mean Camp Quill was better. Camp Artime was better, and he was going to prove it.

Alex grabbed his bag, stuffed to the brim with clothes and supplies, and ran out of their room. Aaron briskly walked after him. They went outside and got in their car, where their parents were already waiting for them impatiently.

" _Alex_ ," Alex's father said. "Did you forget what day it was?"

Alex frowned. "Yeah, yeah I did…"  
His mother just shook her head, a disappointed frown etched in her face. Alex didn't have to be looking at Aaron to know he was staring at him. He leaned against the window, and nothing else was said.

This was partly why Alex wanted to go to Camp Artime. At home, he hardly ever saw his parents since they were at work. When he _did_ see his parents, they were always tired and devoid of emotion. He assumed they had once been happy people, but now, their lives had changed and they had to constantly work. Alex tried to stay cheerful, but it hardly helped.

Alex knew the only reason they were sending them off to summer camps this year was so they would have a weight lifted off their shoulders. He understood their decision. At first he was reluctant to go, but when they had said he could choose whatever camp he wanted, he immediately grew happy. Camp Artime was something people always talked about at school. Every time they mentioned it, Alex was jealous. He wanted to go!

But now, he was going. Finally. And he was beyond excited.

Hours later, the Stowe family arrived at Camp Artime to drop off Alex. Aaron would be dropped off afterward, since Camp Quill was farther away. Mr. Stowe got out and helped Alex get his bags. Once he had them all, his father gave him a small smile. There was still some light in his eyes.

"Alex," he said. "Have fun. And I mean it."

Alex nodded and smiled. "I will, thanks Dad."

"Send me letters!" Mrs. Stowe called from the driver's seat.

Alex laughed a little. "Okay, Mom."

Aaron got out of the car and looked at Alex. Alex held it hand out. "No hard feelings even though we're going to rival camps?"

Alex smiled.

Aaron just stared at his hand as if it had some disease on it. "Whatever you say…" he muttered. And then he did something extremely surprising. He left Alex's outstretched hand untouched and shut the door.

Alex gaped a little as his family drove off, leaving him in the dust. He slowly withdrew his hand and put it back by his side. He sighed and turned around.

"Well…time to say hello to Camp..."

He gasped. In front of him was Camp Artime, more beautiful than all the stories had said. It was the most colorful place he'd ever seen. To the left was a sparkling blue ocean, waves crashing against the shore. Right beside that was a jungle, and it had a lot of strange noises coming from it. There were a ton of small buildings beyond that, which he guessed he would be seeing later. He also spotted a few cabins in the distance. In front of him was a well-decorated building, which Alex assumed was the admissions office. He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and went in that direction.

He reached the admissions office and went inside. It was as vivid as the outside had been. The walls had a lot of colorful dots on it, and the room was quite large. A bunch of objects used for art were hanging up on the walls and on tables. A few comfy-looking couches were in the corner. At the opposite end of the room there was a desk and chair.

And sitting at the desk was a pretty old-looking man with a shock of white hair that looked like it had been electrocuted. He was wearing a colorful robe over his clothes.

Alex slowly approached him. "Hello?" he asked.

The man looked up and a wide grin exploded on his face.

"Ah, you must be Alex Stowe!" he said.

Alex stared at him. "How did you know-"

The man just shook his head. "I get around. Now, I already have your paperwork filled out. You're staying here for the whole summer I'm guessing?"

He nodded and frowned a little. "Yeah."

The man smiled. "You can call me Mr. Today. Go over and sit with the others…you'll be getting your cabin soon."

Alex turned and noticed three other kids sitting on chairs in the room. He hadn't even noticed them earlier. He reluctantly walked over and sat down in a chair. They all looked up from what they were doing.

The girl closest to him had long dark hair and a small stature. She also looked a little younger than the rest of them.

The boy next to her was bigger and taller than Alex. He glared a little at Alex as if he'd offended him in any way. The other girl next to him had red hair and bright green eyes. She smiled at him. Alex smiled back.

They were still staring. He quickly thought of something to say.

"Hey, uh, I'm Alex. You guys are waiting for your cabins too, I'm guessing?" Alex asked.

The dark-haired girl nodded. "Yep. I've been waiting for a while."

"Me too. Oh, I should introduce myself. I'm Meghan," said the redheaded girl.

"Lani," the dark-haired girl said with a smile.

The boy just scowled and rolled his eyes.

Alex frowned. "Aren't we all introducing ourselves?"

The boy looked at him. "Samheed. Are you done talking now?"

Alex shared an angry look with the girls. Lani looked about ready to slap him.

"Um, isn't Camp Artime all about making friends?" Alex asked.

Samheed huffed and rolled his eyes again. Alex was starting to wonder if he needed to get his eyes checked.

"It _is_ about making friends!" said Meghan, looking pointedly at Samheed.

Lani nodded in agreement. "Stop being rude, _Samheed_."

"Is there a problem?" a voice asked.

The four of them jumped. Alex realized it was just Mr. Today. He'd actually forgotten he was in the room!

"N-no, sir," Alex stuttered.

"Good," said Mr. Today, staring at each of them longer than they would've liked. "Ready to start your Camp Artime experience?"

Alex shared a look with the Meghan, Lani, and Samheed. They all nodded, a different expression on each of their faces.

He hadn't known it then, but at that moment, all their fates were sealed.

* * *

Alex spent the next two months learning all the basics of creativity. He had discovered his strongest talent was in art. He learned everything from drawing to sculpting. It was almost magicial. It was exactly the type of thing his parents had never let him try. It was practically considered strange back at home. And despite all that, he loved all of it.

Over the time he'd spent at Camp Artime, he had met a variety of people and made a lot of friends. But he mostly hung out with his two new best friends, Meghan and Lani. They were in all of his activities, and they often even met up afterward to explore the camp.

Speaking of the camp, he shared his cabin with three other boys. And just because he shared a cabin with them didn't mean he liked them all. First, there was Will Blair. Alex wasn't sure how to feel about him. He often had a scowl on his face and was friends with Samheed. A lot of times, Alex spotted him exiting the cabin in the middle of the night, but whenever Alex tried to follow him, he would get caught.

There was also Sean, Meghan's brother, who was a few years older than Alex. He was their cabin counselor, and was usually nice to Alex. He had sat next to Alex the first day of art class and had showed him how to draw.

Then, there was Samheed. His attitude that he'd showed the first day of camp had only grown. He couldn't seem to stop pestering Alex about every little thing he did. It annoyed him to no end. It took all of his willpower to not strangle his rude cabin mate. He had no idea what he'd done to make Samheed hate him so much.

This particular day, he was in art class preparing for the competition at the end of the summer. And by preparing, that meant decorating. As much as Alex liked decorating, he thought they should actually be studying and training. This was probably the reason they lost every year. When he had found out about the competition and that Camp Quill always won, he immediately thought a little less highly of Camp Artime. Why hadn't they won yet?

It was a mystery Alex wanted to solve.

And he had become certain of something. He was certain that even if his beloved camp had lost the competition every year, he'd win for Camp Artime. He wanted to prove himself. He wanted to make his friends and family proud. Even if that meant fighting against Aaron.

He hated to admit it, but he often thought of Aaron. He missed his twin brother. He didn't know why. Aaron had always been a brat.

"How's your design so far?" a voice asked.

Alex looked up and turned around in his seat. It was Lani. He smiled at her. "Pretty good."

He looked down and observed his design. It was a bunch of origami dragons. He didn't know what he'd do with them, but they looked pretty cool.

Lani looked over his shoulder. "What're those supposed to be, birds?"

Alex gave her a look and she laughed. "They're not birds they're dragons!"

She knelt at his side and picked up one of the origami dragons. "Still look like birds to me. You just need to give them more structure. Maybe draw some scales on them and make it look like fire is blowing out of their mouths."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Why fire?"

She sighed. "Have you _never_ watched a movie with a dragon in it?"

Alex blinked. He wasn't sure what to say. "Um…yes?"

Lani grabbed a few red and orange markers and handed them to him. She left to go back to her seat and called back, "Just draw it on. It'll make it look more realistic."

Alex nodded and spent some time drawing the fire and scales on his dragons. When he was finished, he found that she was right. Of course she was. She was smarter than he was.

But just as he got up to thank her, he bumped hard into someone. They both fell to the ground. "I'm sorry—I wasn't-" Alex started to say, but then he looked up. It was Samheed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Samheed growled.

Alex slowly stood up. "Look, I didn't see you-"

Samheed rolled his eyes. "Sure you didn't see me."

He stood up and advanced towards Alex. "I've had enough of you, Stowe!"

Alex backed away. "Calm down! Seriously, all I did was bump into you."

"Whatever," said the irritated boy. "Just watch your back…"

He hit Alex with his shoulder as he passed. Alex nearly fell to the floor again but regained his balance. He really needed to start working out!

"Alex, are you okay?" Lani asked to his right. Meghan had joined them and was looking at Alex with concern.

"Fine," Alex muttered. He looked back at Samheed, who was angrily banging his fist against his seat. He wondered for the hundredth time what he'd done to make Samheed hate him so much.

"I'm fine."

* * *

Darkness had spread across the camp. It was midnight, but Alex couldn't sleep. He was too buys thinking about the day's events. In the bunk under him, Sean was snoring loudly. He kept tossing and turning, but it was no use. He sat up and yawned. He decided he'd go for a walk. It would probably cool him down.

Just as he started to climb down the ladder of his bunk bed, he heard a voice. He froze. It was Will.

"C'mon, get up," he heard Will hiss to someone. He peeked over the side and saw it was Samheed.

"I'm not going with you," Samheed said, tiredness in his voice.

"Come _on_ , Burkesh. Have a little fun. We're just going to go scoop around, maybe learn some secrets," said Will.

 _What secrets?_ Alex wondered.

Samheed huffed. "I'm not going. If anything, I'm going to stop you."

"Well if you want to stop me you'll have to come with me," Will drawled. All the sudden, everything made sense to Alex. This was partly why Samheed was so cruel. Will was influencing him!

Slowly, Samheed got out of bed and put on his shoes and jacket. He and Will exited the cabin together. Alex gasped and nearly fell off his bed. He hastily climbed down the ladder and put on his shoes. He took one look at Sean to make sure he was asleep and headed out of the cabin.

He ran in the direction of his cabin mates voice's and finally spotted them. They were walking into the admissions office, where Mr. Today lived! Alex took a deep breath and advanced slowly towards the building. The whole situation was confusing. He had no idea what was going on. But he was alone.

And it was up to him to find out.


	5. What Happens In America

heyyy everyone! I hope you're all having a great day! Just a heads up, I'd appreciate it if I got any feedback or reviews on this story. Pleeasee tell me how you like each chapter, it would make my day so much! Feel free to request anything for me to write and I most likely will.

ALSO one of you asked if I'd be continuing my latest summer camp AU, and to answer that: yep! My goal is to split it in three parts. I'm really excited for you all to read the rest of it :)

Now for this AU, i honestly have no idea how I thought of it but _anyways_ , it has Aaralyee (Kaylee and Aaron) in it + other people. Once again, reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Love you ALL and hope you enjoy!

* * *

Aaron tended to not get himself into dangerous situations. Usually never. Unless it counted as being forced into one, he preferred to back out. But that didn't mean he was a killjoy or a downer. He sometimes found adventures fun if he had people by his side. Sometimes.

But otherwise? He would never go on something that wasn't safe for no reason at all. Staying home in Artime or the island of shipwrecks sounded perfectly fine to him.

But if that was the case...why did he smell smoke the minute he woke up?

 _Smoke?!_

Aaron's eyes shot open wide and he groaned. Not only did he smell smoke, but also he had a blasting headache. He attempted sitting up but only fell to the floor again. Where the heck was he?

He didn't recognize any of his surroundings from his position on the floor.

"Aaron?" he heard a voice call from his right.

Aaron gasped in pain as he struggled to face the direction the voice had come. "Alex?" he managed to rasp.

"Aaron..." Alex repeated, coughing a little. He looked terrible, and Aaron had a feeling he looked the same. "Why..does..head..hurt?"

"Ughh...don't know," Aaron managed to say. It hurt to say anything for some reason.

He struggled to think back on what had happened. The last thing he remembered was...sailing in a boat to Kaylee's world. The world she called America, which was apparently part of a much bigger world than his.

The group of them: Aaron, Kaylee, Alex, Sky, Lani, and Samheed had their doubts about getting there. But they had somehow slipped through the waterfalls and entered her world...he remembered she was excited to show them everything about it. He remembered feeling ecstatic and maybe even a little sad she could finally go home. But how long ago had that been? And why couldn't he remember anything after that?

Overhead, a loud noise went off and the ground shook. Aaron held his head in his hands, pain erupting through it. Once the ground suddenly stopped shaking, and a more urgent thought came to mind.

The smoke. Aaron coughed a few times and turned to his twin brother. "Do you smell smoke?" he asked.

"I think so," came Alex's response. He shifted his body towards Aaron. Then his eyes widened and he shouted, "Somethings on fire!"

They both groaned and clutched at their heads. "No shouting!" Aaron yelled back, resulting in another headache. He pushed himself up so he was lying on his back. From here, he could see dark smoke forming around the room. The fire was blazing everywhere. From what he could see, they weren't on the boat anymore. Did that mean they were in America?

"This isn't good," Alex said. He flipped himself onto his back as well. "Where's...everyone else?"

Only then did Aaron notice their comrades weren't with them. He turned his head in every direction, but he saw no sign of Kaylee, Sky, Lani, or Samheed.

"I don't...know!" Aaron gasped. He tried to stay calm despite his large amount of pain and the fire. "We need to put out this fire somehow! Use magic or whatever it is you use!"

Alex grimaced and checked his pockets. There was a short pause before he gasped and clawed at his pockets. "I-where are my spell components?!"

Aaron shrugged. "I didn't take them."

Alex sighed and looked around. "Hold on. I'm going to have to do some spells without components."

Aaron gritted his teeth and waited. His lungs were starting to feel like ash. "Holding. On."

There was a pause as Alex closed his eyes, a frown etched in his face. He opened his eyes and stared at the fire, but nothing happened.

"Why didn't it work?!" His brother gasped. "I..." He massaged his head. "I can hardly remember it. I don't know why!"

He looked at Aaron, more panicked than he'd ever seen him.

Aaron cocked his head. "Is that a bad thing...?"

 _"Yes!"_ Alex cried. "Aaron, if I can't remember any spells, I can't do magic! And my components are gone too."

"Yes, and what use are you without your magic?" drawled a voice from behind them. A chill went down Aaron's spine. He knew that voice.

He turned around and saw it was indeed the wicked witch herself: Gonderry Rattrap. She looked almost no different than the last time he'd seen her. She had various burns on her skin, and her hair was scorched. In other words, she never died as he thought she did.

" _Seriously_?" Aaron groaned at the same time as Alex said, "How?"

Alex stood up and Aaron followed suit. Just at that moment the world decided to tip sideways, sending Aaron falling into the wall.

"I thought I killed you," he said once he'd regained himself.

"No you didn't," Gonderry stated, putting a hand on her hip. "Or else I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"How could you be alive?!" Alex asked in horror. "And where are our friends?"

Gonderry laughed, sending another chill down Aaron's spine. "Oh...your three friends...the ones with the orange eyes? We sent them back to where they came from."

Alex balled his fists. "What's that supposed to mean..back to where they came from?"

His eyes widened. "Wait..we're not in Artime, are we..."

Aaron looked around the room once again, noticing it really did seem different than anything he'd ever seen. There was no sign of magic anywhere.

"You guessed it! Welcome, Stowe twins, to the world outside ours!" Gonderry said, bringing her arms up in a grand gesture. The look on her face was more crazed than usual.

"Three friends?" Aaron asked. "Three? But there were four!"

He whipped his head over to Alex, grimacing in pain but too panicked to acknowledge it. "What could've happened to..."

"Your friend...Kaylee?" Gonderry drawled with a smirk. Aaron was surprised she knew who Kaylee was. "Ah yes, that's the one. Which brings up the question: where might she be now?"

 _No!_ Aaron growled, "What do you want?"

"What do I want? Many things. World domination, everyone working for me, that sort of thing. But first off...I'm going to take over this bigger world and for once everyone will do as I say!"

Gonderry raised her fist in triumph, a maniac grin on her face.

"No!" Alex shouted. He dug into his pockets, still not finding any spell components to fight her off.

Gonderry simply backed away, closer to where the roaring fire was. "You can try, Alex Stowe, but you'll never defeat me without your precious magic."

"Why are you doing this?" Aaron yelled. "And why can't we remember anything?"

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I made Alex cast a forget spell on you two so you wouldn't be able to remember anything and use it to your advantage. I hope you don't mind," Gonderry replied.

"You _made_ me?" Alex spat.

"This was all planned out from the start, with the help of my corespondents, Queen Eagala and Captain Baldhead."

Aaron gritted his teeth. "You're _working_ with them? Are they with Kaylee?"

"Of course I'm working with them!" Gonderry snapped. "Who better than to share world domination with? And Kaylee? I'm not telling you where she is. That's for you to figure out. And just so you know...there's exactly three hours left before everything goes downhill for her."

"What have you done with her?" Aaron practically screamed, angrier than he'd ever felt in his life. He nearly lunged towards Gonderry but was held back by Alex.

"Aaron!" Alex shouted. He said something else but Aaron wasn't listening to him.

"Where is she?" Aaron cried desperately, struggling to get out of Alex's grasp.

"You probably won't find her. This world is foreign to you, and much bigger. You see, she's the most important person right now to us. She's been to our world and is from this world. A key player in world domination, if you ask me."

Gonderry stepped back, closer and closer to the flames. "And from her, we can learn all the secrets of this world. And even better...how to put magic in it."

Alex and Aaron's eyes widened. Magic in this world? This world had no magic to begin with, and if Gonderry were going to use magic, she'd destroy everything and everyone.

"You're crazy!" Alex shouted, letting go of Aaron. "You won't get away with this! I'll kill you like I should've long ago!"

Gonderry brought something out of her pocket. A box Aaron had never seen before with a red button on it. He immediately had a bad feeling about it.

"You have twenty seconds," Gonderry told them. "If I were you, I'd _run_."

"Don't!" Alex screamed, but it was too late. She pressed the button and vanished into the burning hot flames.

This time, it was _Aaron_ who grabbed his brother's arm and raced towards the exit as fast as he could go. The long hallway seemed to go on forever, with many classrooms left and right. He assumed this was a school, but it wouldn't anything but a pile of ash soon.

They got to the front doors and exited, lungs burning. But Aaron didn't stop running until they got far enough away behind some trees.

At that moment, an explosion went off soundly and shacked the earth. They fell to the ground from the impact, covering their ears. Sirens wailed in the distance, and Aaron saw black smoke overhead.

He slowly stood up and helped Alex up as well. He took a few deep breaths as he watched the school burn down. In the midst of the burning school, smoke, and sirens, he felt an emotion he hadn't felt in a while. Lost.

He hadn't felt this lost in a long, long time.

Strange vehicles, the ones that he'd seen washed up on the island of shiprecks, were moving about. He took a brief moment to be in awe of how fast they moved. He could never get the old jalopies to work that well back in his Quill days.

Alex ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe Gonderry's back...we have to save this world from her somehow. But I don't remember any of my spells."

"Me neither. But we have to tell people about what's going on. There should be some authorities around here," Aaron said. He noticed the wailing siren noise was getting closer.

"Someone can help us rescue Kaylee, right? And once we find her she might know something about what happened." He turned to Alex.

Alex sighed and coughed a little from the smoke. "We don't know this world! I have no idea where she would be. But we need to focus on destroying Gonderry. She's with Queen Eagala and Captain Baldhead, which is even worse!"

Aaron glared at him. "We need to rescue Kaylee! I get that we have dangerous people that will probably take over the world, but why don't we grab some authorities to help us search for her?"

"How will they search for her?" Alex asked. "She hasn't been here for a year. Do you think they'd really remember what she looked like and where she was? If we want to defeat Gonderry, we have to do it together."

"Trust me on this!" Aaron hissed. The sirens were right next to him now. The vehicles were painted in black and white, the words, "police" written on the sides. He pointed to the vehicles with the people inside. "Let's ask them!"

Alex shook his head. "This is dangerous. And I'm not just saying that. I've been through a lot of dangerous things daily, but this is huge. Kaylee's my friend too, but we need to save the world! Is searching for her really all that important to you?"

"She's the only best friend I've ever had!" Aaron shouted. He didn't notice tears were pooling in his eyes. "If anything happens to her I'll never forgive myself for it."

Alex sighed. "I… guess I can relate to that. Okay. Here's what we'll do. You ask those authorities about her and start searching and I'll start looking for Gonderry and any way to regain my magic. We meet up at this spot by tomorrow. And hopefully, the world will be saved. Deal?"

Aaron had the wisp of a smile on his face. "Deal."

He briefly shook Alex's hand. In a matter of seconds, Alex disappeared through the trees. Aaron made his way towards the police, who had all spotted him by now. They exited their vehicles.

"You there, stop where you are!" yelled one of the officers. "You started the fire! You are under arrest!"

 _"What?!"_ Aaron cried as the men drew in close to him and grabbed him by the arms. "I didn't start the fire! I'm innocent! That crazy old lady started it. She ran around the other side of the school. You can probably catch her now if you hurry!"

The officer who had spoken before just shook his head. He was holding up a strange black object with a barrel sticking out of it. He pointed it towards Aaron. "We were told two twin boys of your description. We were also told that it was you who was found outside with matches. I can tell by your guilty face it was you. Your twin must've gotten away. And for the evidence..."

Aaron squirmed as the officer reached inside his pocket and produced a box of matches. His eyes widened. "I never-those aren't mine!"

How had this happened? Then, a realization hit him. Gonderry had _framed_ him! She had set this up from the beginning! Making Alex use a forget spell on them both, putting matches in his pocket and burning the school down. She was trying to get rid of him. But since when did she get so good at making plans?

Handcuffs were placed around his wrists. Aaron felt a strange sense of déjà vu overcome him. "Please," he tried again. "I'm trying to find my friend. Kaylee Jones. Have you heard of her? She's a sailor! She sailed around the world!"

One of the officers laughed, as if he'd told a very amusing joke. Not that he knew how to tell jokes very well. "Sailed around the world, huh? Tell that to Christopher Columbus."

Aaron was confused. "Why won't you believe me?!"

They ignored him and starting leading him to one of the vehicles. He fought back hard to get away, but they tightened their hold on him. "Why won't you believe me?!" he repeated.

"There's no record of a Kaylee Jones in this town," replied the officer. They reached one of the vehicles and shoved him inside against his will. He gasped as his aching head collided with the door. " _How is there no record?_ " Aaron yelled. "She's lived here all her life. She left a year ago to sail the world-"

The officer shut the door in his face.

"I'm innocent! I've been framed!" he screamed through the glass, but no one seemed to hear.

Aaron looked out the window and hoped his brother had better luck. Alex always knew what to do. He was always the braver and more confident twin. Why had Aaron gotten himself so foolishly arrested? He sighed and looked out the window at the still-burning school, smoke still rising into the sky.

"Where are you Kaylee?"


	6. Summer Camp Rivalry (part 2)

The sound was relentless that night over Camp Artime. A howling wind swept through the pine trees. The crickets that were constantly chirping seemed louder than ever. Thunder boomed in the distance. Even a lightning strike streaked across the sky every now and then. All of this didn't help the two young men as they entered the admissions office: _Mr. Today's_ office.

And by entered, they were trespassing. Something they could be kicked out for. Samheed Burkesh knew this, of course. And he knew he should've ditched his peer-pressuring friend, Will, ages ago. He didn't want to be kicked out of camp, but he didn't fully have a choice when it came to Will. It was a complicated friendship…if they even were 'friends.'

But even if he wanted to stop him, he knew part of him couldn't do it. In all truth, he was much more curious to see the secrets Mr. Today hid in his life. The old man never told anyone anything. He more or less hid in his office all day. It pressed a lot of burning questions into Samheed's mind. Like why did their camp loose every year to Camp Quill? And why was Camp Artime even proud of their creativity after all these losses? Being creative had never gotten him anywhere. He was seen as the 'strange' kid. The weird, creative one who never got good grades in school. This part of him was more resentful. He respected Mr. Today, he really did, but he was bitter towards a lot of things. Sometimes, he hated being at Camp Artime.

And it was all because of one boy. One stupid, arrogant, tattletale boy, with the name of Aaron Stowe. He had ruined _everything._ All the chances of being praised and winning were thrown in the trash. It all started three months before, when the sign-up applications were given out. To get into Camp Quill, everyone needed to fill out a form of their best accomplishments, along with how they felt on the topic of creativity. If they mentioned anything about it, they wouldn't get in. Naturally, Samheed wanted to sign up for Camp Quill. It sounded _way_ cooler than Camp Artime, anyways. Who wouldn't want to be among the smartest, strongest kids?

He was just submitting his form into the bin when he noticed Aaron, his classmate, slipping his hand into it. He knew he should've been suspicious, but it only looked like Aaron was re-writing his answers. He walked away and thought nothing of it. Huge mistake.

The next day, when the camp counselors had read all the submissions, they went through who would be attending their camp. Everyone got in…. except one person. Him. After the announcement, he went up to the counselors, asking why he didn't get in. They simply replied he was creative. That was enough to make him incredibly furious. And he knew exactly who had sabotaged his admissions form: Aaron Stowe. His chances of being seen as great by his family were demolished.

So when he found out Aaron's twin brother, _Alex,_ was coming to Camp Artime too, that anger returned. He only felt a little bad for being so rude to Alex. Alex seemed like a nice person, unlike Aaron, but that still didn't help. He probably was just as backstabbing as his brother. He blamed them for everything.

He told Will this, too. Will had wanted to go to Camp Quill as well, which was mainly the reason they become friends. He just didn't think Will could be such a bad influence on him. As of now, he was going to get caught and it would be all his fault for tagging along. Once again, he was in a bad situation.

He swung open the front door as quietly as he could, wincing a little as it creaked. He walked inside and held up his flashlight, shining it around the room. It hardly looked different than the last time he'd seen it. Random art supplies were scattered on the floor. Paintings and posters of every kind hung on the walls. From what he could see, Mr. Today was in his bedroom, sleeping no doubt.

Will started forward, opening one of the drawers to the cabinets. Samheed chewed on his nails with his free hand. _This was a bad idea_ , he thought over and over. He should've never become Will's friend. He should've let go of his bitterness. He should've become friends with Alex, Lani, and Meghan the first day of camp, which is what he wanted to do all along. Even if they seemed annoying, they still seemed like good friends to have. He should've…

" _Burkesh_!" Will hissed. "Come here!"

Samheed hurried to his side. "What is it?"

"Shine your flashlight on this pamphlet!"

He proceeded to do that and gasped. It read:

 **Camp Quill vs. Camp Artime: what went wrong?**

"Will," he said. "This sounds interesting but we really shouldn't be here-"

"What, are you gonna try to stop me from reading it?" Will pushed, sending a glare his way.

"Why do you want do read this so badly?" Samheed shot back, his voice raising. "What's so important about this pamphlet?"

Will didn't reply, simply shoving it in his hands. He began walking out the door. "Where are you going?" Samheed called.

"The bathroom. Stay here."

He was suspicious, but he didn't move. This wasn't a good sign. He had a feeling Will was lying. And he also had a feeling he knew what Will was intending to do. If Camp Artime lost the competition again at the end of the year, they might shut down. All due to Will's plan that even Samheed didn't know fully. At that moment, he heard a loud bang echo through the room. He whipped around, shining his flashlight in the direction of the noise. "Who's there?" he called.

He walked forward a few steps, fear enveloping him. He was right all along. This had been a very, very bad idea.

* * *

"Seriously?" Lani asked, glaring at Meghan. "We were trying to stay hidden. You just _had_ to bang your head on the table?"

"Maybe he didn't hear…" Alex whispered hopefully.

Meghan stared at them with wide eyes, rubbing her sore head. "He probably did if he said 'who's there'!"

The three of them were huddled under a table in Mr. Today's office. Earlier, Lani and Meghan had found Alex behind the bushes of the admissions office. They had snuck inside right after Will and Samheed, trying to eavesdrop on what was going on. Lani had always known Samheed hated Camp Artime. It was obvious. He was trying to steal something! Even if it seemed like Will was influencing him, she knew what they meant to do. They were going to sabotage the whole contest at the end of the year and blackmail Mr. Today. And she was going to make sure that never happened, ever.

 _Ten minutes before…_

Lani couldn't sleep. Between the howling wind, the loud chirping of the crickets, and the occasional thunderclap, it was practically impossible. She also had some weird hunch something big was about to happen. She climbed down the ladder, still in her pajamas and fuzzy blue slippers, and tapped Meghan roughly on the shoulder.

"Wake up!" she whispered, shaking her harder until she opened her eyes.

"Ugh…" Meghan groaned. "Let me sleep."

Lani shook her harder. " _No_ , I can't sleep. I wanna go for a walk outside and get some fresh air."

"A walk outside?" Meghan asked, more interested now. She fully sat up and pulled her messy red locks into a ponytail. "Isn't it storming?"

Lani shook her head. "It's not even _that_ bad."

A loud clap of thunder shook their cabin. Meghan raised an eyebrow and started to laugh. "You were saying?"

Lani rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. It's bad, but I still want fresh air. Come on, I'm not walking alone."

Meghan nodded and put on a jacket over her pajamas. Lani put on rainboots and they stepped outside. "See?" Lani said, gesturing to the trees violently being blown in the opposite directon. "Not too bad."

They walked around the camp until they reached the admissions office. Peering through the darkness, Lani noticed a figure crouching behind a bush. "Hey, do you see that?" she asked her friend, pointing towards the person.

"What are they _doing_?" Meghan asked. "No one hides behind a bush in the middle of the night…"

They advanced towards the figure slowly. It was only until they get close that Lani realized who it was: Alex.

"Alex?" she asked in shock. "What are you doing here?"

Alex jumped, which would've been funny if not the strange situation. "Guys?! What are _you_ doing here?"

Meghan stared at him. "We were taking a walk until we saw you….what's going on?"

Alex took a deep breath and looked at each of them. "We have a problem. You know Samheed and Will? Will convinced him to go into Mr. Today's office. He said he wants to learn 'secrets', but I didn't think this place had any secrets, can it? It doesn't make any sense what they'd be doing."

Lani shrugged. "It makes sense to me. Any place can have it's secrets."

She looked at the admissions office. "C'mon, lets go see what they're up to. Maybe we can stop them."

"Lani!" Meghan hissed. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Probably," Alex said, already running towards the entrance.

"Alex!" Meghan shouted. "Come back here!"

Alex shook his head as he slipped inside the door, into the darkness of the building. Lani grinned despite the situation. Despite how dangerous this could be, it sounded like an adventure. She grabbed Meghan's arm, dragging her along.

"Let's go see what they're up to."

 _Present time._

Lani stared at the advancing Samheed and knew what she had to do. She needed to get that pamphlet before Will did. She loved Camp Artime. It was probably the best experience so far in her life, which was saying a lot. Here, she had met her two bestest friends in the world. She had the oppurtuity to learn how to be creative, and she learned how to write, something she found she was very good at. She loved it here, and she was _not_ going to let Samheed sabotage Mr. Today, whatever that pamphlet said anyway. She slowly rose from underneath the table, ignoring her friends.

She crept towards the boy as quiet as possible. That all failed when she tripped over a pile of cut-out paper designs. At lightning speed, Samheed turned his flashlight towards her, shining it in her eyes. He held up the pamphlet and waved it in her face.

"Looking for this?" he asked.

Lani lunged at him with speed at surprised her, grabbing at the pamphlet with both hands. Meghan ran from her hiding spot and joined in the fight. She attempted grabbing the pamphlet from Samheed's hand but pushed him backwards instead. Their momentum sent them sprawling onto the floor, the pamphlet falling out of Samheed's grip. Lani grabbed for it, but a hand shot out a picked it up before she could.

The three of them stared at the floor in shock. Then they looked up and saw Alex, the flashlight in his hand and the pamphlet in the other. He stared at Samheed and back at Lani and Meghan, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes were red, his friendly smile nowhere to be found. She also noticed he was shaking, which made her feel even worse about the situation. "Would someone tell me what's going on?"

"Yeah," Meghan said, turning from Lani to Samheed and back again. "What's going on?"

Samheed's face fell, not meeting any of their eyes. "I—um…"

Lani had never seen him look so disorderly. He glanced at her and she looked away. They all stared at their shoes for a full minute before Meghan broke the silence.

"Hey…do you guys want to talk this over _somewhere else_?" she asked, standing up and brushing herself off.

They nodded. Lani picked herself off the ground. She looked down at Samheed and held her hand out to him. He stared at her hand for a moment before taking it wordlessly letting her help him up. A weird tingly feeling went through her as their hands touched, but she didn't say anything of it.

The four of them trudged out the door together, all silently agreeing to walk towards the woods. Once there, they sat around one of the small campfires. The storm had gone away, and any remains of it were short gusts of wind. They sat in silence for a moment.

"I'd like to know-" Samheed began, but Alex cut him off. " _You'd_ like to know? If I knew better, it looked like you were stealing from Mr. Today! I have a lot of questions, probably more than any of you."

Samheed nodded and said the nicest thing Lani had ever heard him say. "You're right. You deserve to go first."

Alex clenched his jaw. "What I want to know," he said, his voice cracking a little. "Is were you trying to steal that pamphlet from Mr. Today to make Camp Artime shut down somehow?"

Samheed's eyes widened. "No! I wouldn't want that. And I wasn't stealing it-Will was."

"Oh, so now Will was stealing it?" Lani demanded.

"You tried stealing it too!" Samheed shot back.

"I was taking it _from_ you," Lani explained, pointing a finger at him. "Not stealing, but I was going to return it!"

"Okay, okay!" Meghan said, raising her hands. "Why were you stealing that?"

"I wasn't stealing it, for the last time," Samheed said with a groan. "I was just…"

He held all of their gazes for the first time, and Lani noticed his eyes softened with a hint of something surprising: respect. "It's just-Will made me come with him to steal something. I was trying to stop him!"

"Ha!" Alex said, crossing his arms. "And why is that so hard to believe?"

Samheed stared at him. "Well you guys tried to get the pamphlet from me to save the camp, right?"

"Right," Lani said. "What's your point?"

"My point is, I had the same reason as you guys: to save the camp," he replied. "Why would that be so hard to believe?

"Because you hate this place," Meghan pointed out. "You've been mean to everyone here, especially Alex."

Samheed scratched the back of his head and looked at the earthen ground. "I don't hate this place…and I don't hate any of you…"

They stayed silent for a few minutes. Alex sighed and rubbed his eyes. "So…why did Will want to steal this pamphlet so bad?"

Samheed shrugged. "Something to do with that contest at the end of the year."

Lani looked up, suddenly feeling intrigued. "The one where Camp Quill always wins and our camp always looses every year?"

He frowned. "That's the one. I remember I used to want to be in Camp Quill. That's…that's partly why I went along with Will. But I never got in."

"Why not?" Alex asked.

Samheed's eyes grew cold as he looked at Alex. "It was your twin brother. I found out he sabotaged my admissions form so I couldn't get in. I was always bitter about it…and that's why I treated you so badly. I'm sorry."

To Lani's surprise, Alex simply smiled and held his hand out. "That's my brother's fault, not mine. He's always been weird like that. It's okay…thanks for apologizing. Friends?"

Samheed smiled the first time that day. He shook his hand. "Friends."

Meghan looked at the pamphlet in Alex's lap. "So, what do we do? Give it to Mr. Today?"

"We should read it," Lani said, scooting closer to Alex. "I'm actually curious now."

"Wait guys," Samheed stopped them. "We have to stop Will from sabotaging this. And I know how we can stop him."

"What?" the three of them asked.

Samheed took a deep breath. "We need to win the competition."


	7. Summer Camp Rivalry (finale)

HI EVERYONE! This is my last summer camp au! I'm really happy with how this turned out. Lots of Lanheed ;)

WARNING: the ending may or may not make you cry so just a heads up.

Please review and tell me how you liked it!

* * *

After the long night, the four kids were finally getting some relaxation. The morning sky was still dark with stars. Meghan and Alex had fallen asleep on the grass, and Samheed was the only one awake as far as he knew. He stood up from his position on the floor, not failing to notice a small light in the distance. He squinted at it, the sudden brightness partly blinding his eyes. Although the moon offered enough light to see, it was still very dark despite the small light. He walked closer and realized it was only Lani. She was asleep holding a book and his flashlight in her hands.

Although he wasn't sure where she got the book from, she did look really peaceful when she slept. Much calmer than she'd looked a few hours ago. And also, she was prettier when she wasn't about to snap at him.

He felt his face heat up. What was he saying? Did he just think that?!

No, of course not! Lani was just...a friend. Yes, a friend! A really annoying pretty friend.

 _Ugh...there it was again!_

He leaned down and gently took the book from her hands, setting it on the ground. He had just finished prying the flashlight from her grasp when he heard her mumble something.

He looked up to meet her gaze, only to realize her eyes were still closed. She was talking in her sleep! He leaned closer so he'd be able to hear her, but that all went downhill for him.

She literally bolted straight up from her spot on the ground and yelled, "CREATIVITY WILL WIN!"

Samheed yelped and jumped back. He watched as she fell onto the grass again, asleep once more. _What a weird way to sleep-talk_ , he thought.

A few feet away, Alex stirred in his sleep. "What was that?" he grunted, only half-awake.

Samheed shook his head. " _Shh..._ just the wind. Go back to sleep."

He glanced down at the pamphlet lying on the grass, forgotten until now. Creativity will win, huh? He smiled to himself in the dark. Lani was right.

* * *

A week passed by quickly in Camp Artime. The summer seemed to grow endlessly hotter. The days went by fast, too fast. The preparations were being made for the competition against Camp Quill. Everything was going to plan...mostly.

By going to plan, which meant the campers were setting up for failure. After many years of simply always losing the competition, there was little belief they could win. Why would they, anyways, with them being only creative and Quill being strong and intelligent at every aspect. Creativity, they began to realize, wasn't a winner. It didn't win races or study tests. It didn't get high grades.

But, that would all change very soon.

Meghan Ranger wasn't sure how she'd gotten to Mr. Today's office that morning. A strange, stubborn feeling in her gut told her to. She hadn't even gone to breakfast, just walked straight there. It was like her brain wasn't working correctly. She stared helplessly as she climbed the wooden front porch steps.

Well, there was no turning back.

After the 'incident', the guilt refused to stop gnawing on her. Even if it wasn't her idea to steal that pamphlet in the first place. From her and her friends keeping the secret pamphlet- which revealed the true story behind Camp Artime and Camp Quill's rivalry- she felt uncertainty. Even if she, Alex, Lani, and Samheed, had vowed to not open it until they gave it back to Mr. Today.

Not only that, but they were hiding it from Will the best they could. Even Samheed had kept quiet about it, and Alex had made sure he did.

But it was in her nature to do the right thing. She had to tell Mr. Today about this, or one of these days she'd burst! Samheed had said in order to stop Will from sabotaging the competition they had to win. _But how?_ It was nearly impossible, considering Camp Quill had won every year.

She needed to win that competition with her friends to save Camp Artime from destruction. And to do that didn't they need their camp counselor to help? She wanted to tell Mr. Today...yet why was she so nervous? Maybe it was because she didn't have her three closest friends on her side like usual.

Yes, _three_ closest friends. They had let Samheed into the group after the incident, even if he was a little reluctant to do so at first. Meghan liked that he had opened up to them more. He might've been overly sarcastic and still hotheaded at times, but he was much nicer.

A pang of longing hit her, only making her nerves worse. She really should've talked this through with her friends first.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered to herself, entering the large office. The same one they'd taken a pamphlet from only one week before. She felt an unexpected chill go down her spine and crossed her arms.

"Mr. Today?" she called.

She never realized Alex, Lani, and Samheed were walking in after her until she heard a floorboard creak. She whipped around only to find her three closest friends.

"Guys?" she asked in surprise, her eyes widening. "What-how did you know I was here?"

Alex sighed. "We kind of had a feeling. And well...maybe it IS good if we tell Mr. Today about the pamphlet."

Lani glanced at him. "Are you sure? We might still have a chance of winning if we find out!"

"It doesn't matter if we know what happened or not," Meghan pointed out. "We can still win somehow!"

She held up the pamphlet. "And without this!"

"But how?" Samheed asked, finally joining in on the conversation. "We can't just win by telling Mr. Today we stole something! He'll kick us out! And we have to win this... no matter what. We won't be able to stop Will if we aren't here."

The front door swung open, causing the four to almost have a heart attack. Meghan nearly dropped the pamphlet.

Because...standing in the doorway was Mr. Today himself. He looked less surprised then he should've been to see four kids standing in his office.

And with that, he closed his door behind him and stepped inside. "Let's have a chat, shall we?"

* * *

Meghan dug into her warm chocolate-chip pancakes, feeling as if she hadn't eaten in years.

"These are amazing!" she told Mr. Today for what felt like the hundredth time. And probably was, too! The others all nodded in agreement.

Samheed, with the help of Alex chiming in every now and then, had just finished explaining the situation to Mr. Today. Of course, they left out a bunch of it. Like Will trying to sabotage the competition. They only said "somebody" was.

Once they were done explaining, Mr. Today stood up from his chair and sighed. "You see...I get you want to win this competition. We all do, but we haven't won for over a decade. It would take a miracle to win!"

Meghan shared a look between her three friends. "But it's to save the camp!" she said. "If we don't win...no one will go here ever again."

Mr. Today took a good look at all of them. "I've almost lost faith throughout the years. But it seems you four haven't. If you can prove creativity _can_ win, it would be a big help all of us and the camp."

Alex smiled. "We _have_ to win. We just need to put everything we have into this."

Mr. Today patted him and Lani on the shoulder and simply walked into a separate room. "Remember, competition tends to bring out the worst in people."

"Or the best," Lani whispered once the camp counselor had shut the door. Samheed quickly shoved a pancake in his mouth without looking up, but everyone knew Lani was referring to him.

"So..." Meghan said once they'd left Mr. Today's office. "How do we win this?"

"Like Mr. Today said," Alex said. "We're going to teach everyone they can use creativity to win the competition."

"And they're all going to listen to _you_?" Samheed asked. "Sorry to say this Alex, but majority of the campers here are older than us."

Lani nodded. "Which is why all four of us will be helping!"

"And that'll convince them they can win?"

Lani gave him a look. " _Seriously?_ They'll listen if they want to win, which they do!"

Samheed shrugged. "If you say so. But we have to get them to believe...creativity is something that they can use to their advantage. If we find Camp Quill's weakness we can use it to win. "

Lani raised her eyebrows. "Samheed Burkesh, you are full of surprises.

He gave her a wink. "I've still got some tricks up my sleeve."

Meghan grabbed his arm and actually rolled up his sleeve. "You sure about that?"

Everyone laughed.

"Okay guys," Alex said, clapping his hands and standing in front of the group. He waited until they were all looking at him before he continued. "We got a competition to win. Let's do this. All of you, split up to separate groups and explain our situation. We probably should leave out the Will part, though. Once we tell everyone we need to plan out a strategy to take Camp Quill down! But I can't do this alone, so I need all of you helping."

Samheed nodded, looking at Alex with a respect that definitely hadn't been there a month ago. "Sure thing, boss!"

Alex wasn't sure if he'd heard him right. "Wait... _what_ did you call me?"

"If there's anyone who can win this, it's you! Sure, we might be helping but if anyone's going to win this, it's going to be you," Samheed responded.

Lani and Meghan both nodded in agreement, pretty surprised at this new Samheed still, but liking it nonetheless.

Alex felt a new determination rise up in him at his friend's words. He could do this! No- _they_ could do this. He smiled. "Well what are we waiting for then? Let's get these people convinced!"

They all saluted half-jokingly before running off to announce it to every class they could.

* * *

 _The night before_

Alex was resting in his cabin; exhausted from the new turn of events he and his friends had enlisted on the entire camp. All month, they had been training everyone so they would win for sure. And if everything went right in three days at the competition, they'd make it. They had to...or Camp Artime wouldn't be standing next summer.

His ways of preparing everyone were unique. Every group was different-depending on how to crack Camp Quill's weakness. For the artists like him, he had them cut out little origami dragons that would fall on the rival campers and distract them from their activity. Not only that, but the singers and dancers would clumsily "mess up" in their activity; which meant scaring the rivals half to death by singing at the top of their lungs, or by dancing straight into the person next to them, sending them falling.

Of course, those weren't the only plans. All the other campers who weren't especially in those classes were each doing their own way of distracting them. Some of them had even set up traps throughout the camp, so if a camper from Quill took a wrong step, a bucket filled to the brim with paint would splatter all over them for a solid two minutes.

There were so many activities they'd be competing against, like row boating, running, test-taking, capture the flag, etc. Alex was beyond nervous, but he knew they at least had a chance. He felt more at home now that he did ever...and everyone was even acting like _he_ was their leader! Him, instead of Mr. Today!

He really hoped he at least wouldn't let his fellow campers down. And he couldn't have done this work without the help of his three best friends: Meghan, Lani, and Samheed. He'd never had such good friends like them before, and he was actually looking forward the competition with them. They'd make it fun.

There was only one thing he wasn't looking forward to. Seeing his brother, Aaron, again. Last time he'd seen him, Aaron had literally slammed a car door in his face! He didn't know what to say to him. He didn't know how to react if they won...or lost. And coming home, living in the same house, having that rivalry spreading them apart.

He shook his tired head, denying it. No, once the competition was done, he'd sort everything out with Aaron. Maybe, just maybe, they'd even come out on good terms. For now though, he had a competition to get ready for.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, leaning back into his bed. And so, as he listened to the loud chirps of the crickets outside, he chanted one word over and over again until he fell asleep.

Win.

* * *

For the first time, the morning of the competition held excitement. There wasn't a cloud to be seen in the light blue sky. A gentle breeze blew from the lake over the campers, giving them the perfect temperature for a day like this. Everyone buzzed about, finishing the final touches for the competition. The whole camp seemed to glow with even more color than usual, if that was possible. Some campers had even decided to litter every tree and building with posters, which read: " _Creativity will win!"_ or " _Down with Quill, Artime will prevail!"_

In the center of the camp was a large colorful stage, which would mark who was in the lead and who was behind. Once the competition was over, both Mr. Today and Justine, the camp counselor of Quill, would go on stage and announce who won. Every year before, it had always been Quill.

"I really like what you've done with the place," Sean commented, patting Alex on the shoulder. "I have a feeling we're gonna win for sure this time."

They were walking through the camp, surveying the area to make sure everything was completely set up. Alex was holding a checkboard, checking off every trap they had out. It took nearly a week to lay them all out, and when walking around, everyone had to be extra careful so they wouldn't set off anything. There had only been a _few_ wrong turns, where some unlucky camper would come back to their cabin covered in glitter or paint. By now, everyone was informed of the traps, and knew exactly where to step so they wouldn't make a mess. Once, Alex had even caught _Will,_ of all people, trudging back to their cabin, a scowl on his face as he tried wiping off the super glue on his clothes. When he wasn't around, Alex and Samheed laughed their heads off about this.

Alex smiled, trying to gulp down his nervousness. "Me too. Everyone seems really excited for this!"

Sean glanced at him as they walked by the lake. He stopped in his tracks, his face turning more serious. "Alex, I want to you know-well...all of us...we couldn't have done this without you. For once, our creativity will get us places."

"Thanks Sean, but tell me once we've actually won!" Alex said with a laugh.

Sean laughed too and messed up his hair. "Okay, but don't let it get to that big head of yours!"

He ran off, leaving Alex to himself. He absently combed the brown mess that he called hair back into place. "Big head...?" he muttered, confused. He did _not_ have a big head! Did he...?

"ALEX STOWE!" three voices yelled at once.

Alex jumped and embarrassingly screamed like a girl. He turned to see his three best friends laughing their heads off. "Hey!" he sputtered, his face turning all shades of pink. He couldn't believe they'd heard his girly scream. "This isn't the time and place!"

Lani fell sideways into Samheed, clutching her stomach from her laughter. "Ow, my stomach!"

Samheed was silently choking on his laughter, his face incredibly red. He looked like he was about to say something but started laughing all over again.

Meghan covered her mouth, still giggling. "O-oh my god! That was priceless!"

Alex frowned. It was extremely hard not to laugh.

 _No,_ he told himself. _Don't-_

He took one look at them and burst out laughing, giving up on being mad at them. There was no point. Plus, their faces were too funny to _not_ laugh.

They all regained themselves for a full five seconds, breathing heavily and trying not to look at each other. But that moment ended once Samheed lost his footing and fell backwards into a ditch.

This time, everyone laughed at once.

Ten minutes later, the four best friends sat on the porch of the admissions office, basking in the cool shade before they had to compete. They were all wearing a strip of black war paint on each cheek, along with the same tye-dye shirts as everyone else. Meghan, of all people, had dyed parts of her hair various bright colors so it resembled a rainbow. Alex felt a gush of pride whenever he saw the lengths everyone went for their camp. It was amazing, just thinking that a month before, no one had even thought of winning.

And the most surprising thing was...this was all because of him and his friends. He was really glad they were here with him. They all needed each other for support. Even Samheed, who had used to hate him, was now one of his best friends.

He quickly glanced at each of them in their peaceful states. Samheed was reading a book, Lani was lazily braiding her hair, and Meghan was singing softly to herself. None of them were talking, the feeling that their camp rival would be coming any second bearing over everyone's heads.

Alex was half-hoping Camp Quill would never come and would just hand over the winnings to Artime. That would be so much easier. Even though he and the others had gone through so many lengths to win this, part of him doubted everything. Who was he kidding...Artime hadn't won in years. Just as Mr. Today said, it would be a miracle if they won. And if they didn't win, Camp Artime would be toast. Burnt toast. Unless...unless Camp Quill just ditched the competition. Camp Artime could win that way! It would be so easy if that happened. No competition to deal with.

But of course, that wouldn't ever happen.

Everyone's silent peace was broken when Camp Quill stepped through the entrance. The hundreds of campers walked through, all staring, wide-eyed, at the vivid colors surrounding them. Although Alex had never seen Camp Quill, he'd been told that it was practically the opposite of Camp Artime. All there was, was dull, boring colors. The kind of colors that'd make you bored to death. The many rival campers looked determined and confident.

Alex narrowed his eyes. He wanted to wipe the stupid smug looks on their faces.

"They're here?" Lani asked. She had finished braiding her hair and was sitting upright. Her eyes were wide and her face was almost unreadable.

Meghan gasped, staring at the rival campers as they stood around the entrance. "Here we go..." she muttered.

Samheed frowned and exchanged a look with Alex. They watched as Mr. Today approached the other camp leader, Justine, with a grim expression. They spoke a few words to each other that were too quiet for anyone else to hear. Their conversation went on for more then a few seconds, long enough for everyone to shuffle awkwardly around.

When they were done, Justine strode away from him and shouted, "Camp Quill, to your assigned activities!"

Mr. Today shouted the same order. Everyone, including Alex and his friends, sprang from their spots and ran to their separate activities. And with that, the competition had begun.

Alex nervously watched as campers competed against each other. Just as he hoped, all the diversions they were creating were distracting Camp Quill. Even better, they were at a tie for now!

At the moment, the row-boating competition was going on. Camp Artime cheered as yet another rival camper fell into the water after being splashed by a random splatter of paint.

Alex glanced at his rival campers every now and then, growing even more excited as the expressions on their faces turned from proud to distressed. Their plan was working!

Throughout the next three hours, he watched as each camper battled against the other. Sometimes he was certain they'd win, and other times he wasn't. Many of their diversions were working, which kept giving them just enough points to possibly win. With each win, he was glad to see his camp growing happier.

Often, he had people come up to him and giving him a hug, adding in a "thank you." Usually he'd respond with a "don't thank me yet!"

They just didn't know he was crossing his fingers the whole time.

He wasn't as sure they would win as before. Camp Quill, despite many of the slip-ups, were winning majority of the activities. And what concerned him was whenever this happened, he always saw Will smiling.

Meghan grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the one of the last activities. Next up was the test-taking competition. He wasn't really sure why _that_ was a competition, but he knew it was something Camp Quill _never_ failed at. He spotted Lani as one of the competitors in that activity. He really, really hoped she remembered the plan.

His worries increased as the rival camper, who had only just started his test, was going at rapid speed. He felt Meghan clutch his arm tightly and stared at the large scoreboard behind them.

Camp Quill was fifty points ahead of Camp Artime! Somehow, through all the activities they had gone through, a bunch of their diversions hadn't worked. And there was only one activity left: racing.

He couldn't bear to watch this. He shut his eyes.

"Alex!" Meghan shouted in his ear. "Look!"

He finally opened his eyes and gasped. The camper who Lani was against had now fallen to the floor, screaming "get them off me!" over and over again. He couldn't help but laugh once he saw a stack of origami dragons on top of the kid.

He looked back at the scoreboard, but it wasn't enough. They were hardly close to Camp Quill!

"Stowe!" a voice called. He turned to see Sean reach for his arm. "You go next. This is our last activity and you planned this whole thing out! There's no one better than you to finish!"

He barely got out an "okay" before he was dragged to the racing activity. He let his eyes skim over his fellow competitors until he landed on a very familiar one. He gasped.

It was his brother.

It was Aaron.

* * *

Alex stared, open-mouthed, at his brother. This was crazy! He was competing against...his twin brother of all people.

Aaron caught his eye, his determined face turning white. The twins stared at each other in silence.

Then, a loud whistle sounded through the air. The race had begun.

The twins sprung from their positions, racing into the woods alongside the others. Alex tried to take calming breaths as he ran, watching out for the traps he'd set up. He leaped over a fallen tree and continued forward, dodging the traps.

Suddenly, Aaron appeared beside him. "You're going down, Alex!" he shouted.

"Not a chance!" Alex yelled back. They continued running until they were past all the other campers. Annoyingly, every time Alex attempted to send his twin into a trap, Aaron sped out of the way.

"I've already seen all the traps you guys put out!" Aaron said. "You can't make me loose. I'm going to win for my camp!"

"And I'm going to win for _mine_!" Alex panted angrily. He shoved Aaron to the side, almost succeeding in making him trip, but Aaron quickly recovered.

Together, they jumped over another fallen log. They pushed at each other, but it was almost useless. They knew each others motives too well. Alex almost succeeded in hitting Aaron with a branch, but Aaron ducked out of the way just in time. They continued running side by side, pretending to not notice the pain in their bodies.

"Your camp has never won!" Aaron yelled. "You don't have a chance!"

They exited the forest and were met with a dirt road. Alex noticed they were almost to the finish line. He saw the crowd, waiting, cheering them on. He didn't see Lani, Meghan, or Samheed, but he knew they were in the crowd watching him. He ignored his burning legs and continued on. He had to win. If he didn't, this was the end.

"Yes I do!" he rasped out. "I have every chance!"

Aaron seemed to notice they were closing in on the finish line too. He ran harder than ever. Alex stayed at pace with him. They continued to shove each other with each step, still avoiding the traps that were set up. Behind them, a few more campers emerged, most of them covered with some type of art. Alex turned his head forward and noticed something on the ground. He furrowed his brows in determination and looked back at Aaron.

"Why are you so cruel to me?" Alex growled. "Why does this mean so much to you? Why does this competition mean so much to you?"

"It-" Aaron was about to say, but out of nowhere he tripped on a puddle of paint. He crashed to the ground.

Alex frowned and nearly tried helping him up. He slapped his forehead, quickly reminding himself his plan had worked. _No!_ It didn't matter if Aaron had fallen. This was his chance and his cruel twin brother wasn't going to ruin it for him.

He raced, harder than ever to the bright red finish line. He could barely breathe anymore. His lungs were burning, his legs and arms about to collapse. The deafening loud cheers of his fellow campers blinded him as he passed through the finish line.

He coughed violently and slowed to a stop. From the crowd, Meghan, Lani, and Samheed appeared and grabbed him. "Are you okay?!" Lani shouted.

Alex could barely hear anything. He could hardly see another, only blurry faces. He could hardly even make out the red of Meghan's hair in front of him. All he could see was Aaron lying flat on his back, paint covering his clothes,

"Get him water!" Samheed shouted urgently.

The next thing he knew he was seated on a chair, taking huge gulps of water. He gasped a few times and started coughing again. Meghan patted his back.

"You did great!" she reassured him. "We have to wait until we get our results, but I think we won!"

That brought a smile to his face. He beamed at his friends surrounding him and took a deep breath. "Thanks, guys."

Lani winked. "Don't mention it."

It took a while before both Mr. Today and Justine rallied everyone to the stage. Once every camper was finally gathered, Mr. Today stood and went to the microphone.

"Hello, Camp Artime and Camp Quill. Yet another competition! Let's just say this year has been great fun!"

The buzzing of the crowd instantly stopped. Alex knew it wasn't only him and his friends who were holding their breath.

"It did, in fact, take us a while to tabulate the scores. Thank you for being patient. You're all an outstanding group! It's been a real blast."

Both camps laughed politely. "Now I'll be handing the mic over to Justine," said Mr. Today. He went back over to his seat, passing the microphone to her.

Justine stood up, holding a regal posture and a stiff expression as she went to the front of the stage. She smiled at the crowd. "Thank you for all being here. Let's say this year's competition has been...interesting."

Meghan reached for Alex's hand and clutched it tightly. He drew in a sharp breath.

"Well...without further ado...I bet your all wondering who the winner is..."

Lani slipped her hand in Alex's other hand. He glanced over to see her face paler than ever. He squeezed it gently, trying to ignore how sweaty her hand was.

"I won't keep you waiting any longer," Justine said. She threw one final glance at Mr. Today and turned back to the two camps. She took a slip out of her pocket. "The winner of the Camp Artime and Camp Quill competition is..."

Lani grabbed ahold of Samheed's hand, squeezing the living daylights out of it. His face turned a shade of red and he tried very hard not to stare at her. Alex and Meghan and Lani and Samheed all clung to each other tightly.

"...Camp Quill!"

Alex's heart nearly stopped beating. They lost! Camp Artime was gone! Everything they'd prepared for was all a waste. Then, he realized it was only Meghan who'd whispered that in his ear.

"Very funny!" Alex whispered, his heart beat returning to normal.

"Camp Artime!" Justine shouted, her voice laced with utter shock. The entire crowd gasped.

Alex jumped out of his chair, along with everyone else from his camp. Everyone began shouting and cheering, giving each other hugs. Camp Quill stared at their rival camp in shock before applauding too.

All the sudden, Alex was pummeled by people giving him hugs. Everyone was throwing their arms around him, Lani, Meghan, and Samheed.

Alex laughed, listening to the many "thank you's" every single person gave him. When the crowd was done hugging them, Mr. Today took the microphone from the shell-shocked Justine. Somewhere in the crowd, he noticed Will covering his face with his hands and running away.

Alex pointed this out to Samheed, who laughed. "Serves him right!"

"Will Alex Stowe, Lani Haluki, Meghan Ranger, and Samheed Burkesh please come to the stage?"

Meghan gasped and looked back at the other three. They were just as shocked as her. They navigated through the crowd of people, who were all still clapping. They applauded even harder when they made it onto the stage.

"Thank you for your help," Mr. Today told them. "We haven't won in such a long time. Please give a round of applause for the four young competitors who helped us win!"

Even though the crowd was already clapping wildly, it somehow got even louder than it had been moments ago. People even started whistling!

"Now, for a picture to remember this day," Mr. Today said. He took out a polaroid and pointed it towards them.

Alex noticed Samheed stiffen for a second as they all threw their arms around each other for the camera. Once he noticed his friends smiles, though, he immediately relaxed and brightened.

Mr. Today snapped their picture. "This is going in the newspaper!"

Lani laughed. "Did you hear that?" she shouted above the crowd. "We're gonna be in the _newspaper_!"

The crowd rose to its feet. Justine took the microphone back from Mr. Today, an actual smile on her face. "Well, there you have it! Big changes are happening. Everyone congratulate the winners and we'll return to camp!"

All the sudden, Mr. Today rushed towards her and whispered something in her ear.

The crowd grew hushed and whispered amongst themselves. This had never happened before! Everyone was even more surprised when Justine sounded excited for once. "Actually, change of plans. We'll be celebrating this victory with Camp Artime! For now on, we won't be rivals anymore. We'll be friends and allies."

Everyone started cheering all over again, this time Camp Quill too. Alex, Lani, Meghan, and Samheed left the stage and joined the others as they cheered. They were suddenly hugged again, and Alex got various pats on the back. He shared a broad smile with his friends and pumped his fist in the air. They did it! He skimmed through the crowd and caught Aaron's eye, thinking he saw the faint wisp of a smile.

 _Yes_ , he thought. _Everything will be just fine._

* * *

At noon, the celebration started. Music blared everywhere. Campers from both Quill and Artime were talking and dancing. Everyone was eating food and playing games. Not only that, but they were in a carnival!

Yes, _that_ kind of carnival. The one with fun games, rides, and Ferris wheels. It was more than anyone from Camp Artime had hoped for.

Alex walked through the crowd, looking for someone in particular. Someone who probably was alone, away from people.

He had taken a shower after the competition and changed into a white short sleeve shirt. Along with that, he was wearing tan shorts that at least looked dressy for an occasion like this. He had even run a comb through his wavy brown hair before it got tousled as usual. Some things, like hair, just couldn't be kept neat.

He reached the water's edge found Aaron sitting there. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and sat next to him. He could tell by the slightest of movement that Aaron had detected his presence.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at the lake as it lapped against the shore. Aaron finally looked at Alex. "Hey...congratulations," he said awkwardly.

"Thanks," Alex replied. "You too. You did well."

"No I didn't do well," his brother said, pulling his knees up and leaning his head against them. "I can't believe I was so selfish. I wanted to win because I was so proud...but of what? Looking at everyone now, Camp Quill was never so great. Camp Artime is just as amazing..."

Alex stared at him in surprise. "What? You actually mean that?"

"Yeah."

"Look, I'm sorry we were torn apart by this stupid rivalry. There was no point," Alex said.

"Me too. I just wish... I wish we were still close like we used to be," Aaron said, his voice getting quieter. He almost looked like it pained him to say anything.

"With mom and dad always acting like that, I kind of turned rude...I wanted to make them proud."

Alex nodded. He knew that feeling. "I get it. But there's always another chance. We can still be friends."

Aaron peered at him quizzically. "After all this? We can't be friends..."

"Look behind you!" Alex said, gesturing to each of their camps talking, having fun, and playing games. "We can be friends! They're all doing it."

Aaron followed his gaze. "But...how do we start?"

Alex stood up and looked around the carnival. His eyes lit up once he found the perfect thing to do. "C'mon," he said, grabbing Aaron's arm and pulling him towards the place. For once, Aaron didn't flinch or pull away. "Let's get some ice cream."

* * *

He was sitting on a bench, enjoying the refreshing ice cream with Aaron. It had taken a little bit to get Aaron to try some, but in the end he liked it. Alex was glad they weren't fighting or ignoring each other. For the first time, they were actually bonding.

"Alex!" he heard a voice call his name. He looked up to see Lani. She was wearing a pastel blue dress, a white bow pulling back two strands of her hair. She seemed to have ditched her shoes a long time ago as her feet were caked with grass and leaves. "We're going row-boating! Wanna come?"

Alex stood up and glanced back at his brother, silently asking if it was okay. Aaron nodded and managed to smile, as if to say "go ahead."

"Sure," Alex replied, grinning. He and Lani ran to meet Meghan at the dock. In front of them was a rowboat big enough to fit six people.

" _That's_ the boat we're riding on?" Samheed asked, joining them by the lake. Like everyone else, he'd cleaned up and changed into more suitable clothes. He was wearing a short-sleeve button down shirt along with jeans. His dark hair was brushed neatly to the side, something Alex could never perfect.

He glanced over at Meghan, who was the least dressed up of them all. She was wearing a pink tank top that was covered in rainbow glitter with a microphone in the center. She was also wearing a pair of light blue biker shorts and flip flops. Her hair was back to it's normal color after simply washing out the dye.

"Were you expecting a yacht?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Samheed rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes, yes I was."

"Ah, that's a shame because I was hoping for a simple boat," Lani said. "But I guess your high expectations are ten times better than everyone else's."

Samheed stepped forward and kicked her in the shin. Lani yelped and kicked him even harder.

Alex and Meghan laughed.

"Oh," Lani said. She looked at Alex. "I have something to give you."

"I have something to give you too!" Alex exclaimed.

"And I have something for all of you!" Meghan said.

"I don't have anything for anyone!" Samheed shouted, earning a laugh from the group.

"Here," Alex said. He handed Lani a tiny package. It resembled a present, with a small pink bow wrapped around it.

Lani immediately opened it and grinned. She pulled out a bright pink origami dragon, with scales, fire, and all. "I can't believe we still have these!" she said. "The majority of them were ruined in the competition."

Alex smiled. "Well...there's at least _one_ left. Now where's my gift, huh?"

Lani jabbed her thumb at Meghan. "It's part of her gift for you."

"And I'm not allowing you to open it until tomorrow!" Meghan said before Alex could grab at it.

"Why not?" Alex pouted.

"Because it's the last day of camp!" Samheed said.

Alex was suddenly brought back to reality. He glanced at the party behind them, the campers all having fun and dancing to music. He'd actually forgot it was their last day tomorrow. They all were slightly disheartened from hearing that reminder.

"Let's quit standing here and go on the boat!" Meghan said, starting towards it. She didn't want them to be sad on their last full day together. This was meant to be fun!

"Is that even durable?" Samheed asked, casting a worried look at the boat. They all turned back to the rowboat, which looked like it would easily fit two more people.

Lani waved her hand. "Of course it is! Everything rides these things all the time."

And with that she waded from the shoreline and hopped onto the boat. The others did the same after leaving their shoes behind.

The boat rocked as they climbed into it, Samheed nearly falling in the water. He steadied himself and carefully slid the rest of the way in the boat. Everyone laughed at his fear-stricken face.

"You almost got wet," Alex pointed out, looking very amused. "You should've seen the look on your face! Priceless."

"I'm _so_ glad you think that," Samheed said.

Part of him wished he'd come up with a better comeback.

Meghan picked up the oars and began rowing. Lani and Samheed clutched the sides of the boat as it began to move, not extremely keen on getting wet. They all looked out onto the sparkling blue lake, peacefulness settling in. Lani closed her eyes, letting the salt water flick at her face and gently blow her hair behind her. Alex caught Samheed watching her and shared a smile with Meghan.

They knew what was up.

"It's so nice and peaceful out here," Meghan noted. She set down the rows once they were far enough out and stretched her arms.

"I know…" Lani said. "And can you actually believe we won the competition? I still can't."

"Me neither," Alex told them. "And also…I might've forgotten to tell you guys this…but _thank you_ for everything. I wouldn't have been able to do this competition without you with me."

Samheed smiled. "Same here. And no, thank _you_ , Alex. You helped save the camp in ways that we couldn't."

"Thanks…" Alex said. He was still genuinely surprised at times like these when Samheed complimented him. It was a feeling everyone was still getting used to.

"What now?" Meghan asked. They all looked at her. "I mean..we're leaving tomorrow. We won't see each other until next summer. I'm gonna miss you guys so much."

Lani sighed. "I'm going to miss you all too. If I'm being completely honest, I don't think I've ever had better friends than you guys..." 

Alex nudged Samheed with his elbow. "We all think that. Even Sam, here." 

Samheed just scowled. "No...I've met better people than you scumbags."

They all knew he was lying but didn't comment about it.

Alex turned back to the shore and made out the small figure that was Aaron, lying on the grass and staring up at the sky. Without a doubt, he was playing the game they used to play as kids, called "name that cloud." He allowed himself to smile. Deep down, Aaron was really good, after all.

He leaned back into his wooden seat and gazed up at the sky. As did the others, and before he knew it, they were all playing "name that cloud" just as Aaron was. He pointed up at one of the clouds for them all to see and tried to decide which shape it resembled.

"A book?" Lani asked.

Samheed laughed. "It looks like one of those Hollywood slate-boards."

"It looks like a girl dancing!" Meghan called out.

Alex just shook his head and grinned at the irony.

"A paintbrush," he said. " _Definitely_."

 _Man_ , he thought. _Am I gonna miss you guys._

* * *

"I guess this is it..." Lani said, looking at Alex, Meghan, and Samheed.

They were standing at the entrance to Camp Artime, awaiting the arrivals of their families. It was the morning after the celebration, and the majority of the camp had already left to go home. Today, everyone would leave each other for a year, not returning until the next summer. A bittersweet feeling filled the air, putting each remaining camper into an even sadder mood.

Meghan took a deep, shaking breath and hugged her best friend tightly. Lani hugged her back, her eyes closed.

"I'll miss you sooo much!" Meghan whispered. Lani smiled sadly and sniffled. "I'll miss you too."

When she pulled away, Alex awkwardly held out his arms. "Do I get a hug?" he asked innocently.

"Dolt," Lani muttered. He grinned as she stepped into his arms and hugged him.

"You better be here next summer!" Alex whispered in her ear.

"Only if you stay out of trouble," Lani promised. She pulled away and laughed at the look at his face.

"I can't promise that!" Alex gasped.

Lani patted his arm and pretended to look sympathetic. "I know, I know."

Alex held out his pinkie. "Pinkie sware...if you'll go to camp next summer then I won't get in trouble this _whole year_?"

Lani snorted. "Either way you're getting in trouble, idiot. No one can promise that. But yes, I guess we can only try."

She extended her pinkie and shook it with his. Alex smiled at her one last time before standing back at Meghan's side. Samheed stepped forward towards her.

"Hey, Haluki?" he asked, a smile on his face as he cocked his head.

"Yes?" Lani questioned, a slow, confused smile spreading over her face. "And don't call me Halu-"

She squeaked in surprise as Samheed suddenly lifted her off her feet, drawing her into a tight embrace that went on for much longer than was considered normal.

She hugged him back hesitantly, completely speechless. She was blushing like crazy. "Sam, let go of me!" she whispered urgently.

He quickly set her down, finally noticing her dad waiting some feet away. He couldn't help but laugh at his bewildered expression.

"Uh oh, looks like your dad's here!" he said.

Lani rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. His eyes widened as he felt her lips brush against his cheek, so lightly he probably imagined it. When she pulled away, a playful smile was gracing her lips.

"I'll miss you," he said, completely honest. He glanced back at Alex and Meghan. "We all will."

"We'll see each other again. Next summer," Lani responded.

He nodded and walked backwards to his other best friends. He stared after her, her long black hair bouncing behind her as she greeted her father. They all watched her leave wistfully before turning to each other.

"So..." Alex said, his voice trailing off as he stared at his remaining friends.

Meghan suddenly laughed and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, tears springing in his eyes. She pulled away quickly and said, "Now, hold out your hand and close your eyes."

He did.

"Are your eyes closed?"

"No, they're not," Samheed said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Shut up," Alex told him.

Meghan grinned and placed something in his waiting palm. He opened his eyes, only to see a small package in his hand. He looked at Meghan in confusion.

"Something to remember us...and Camp Artime by," Meghan explained. "Open it when you get home."

Alex nodded and smiled warmly. "Thanks."

A car honked in the distance, startling them. They turned to see an impatient Sean in the drivers seat. A brown-haired man, who Alex assumed was Meghan's dad, was seated next to him.

Meghan giggled. She glanced back at the two boys and approached Samheed, who just smiled and hugged her tightly. She pulled away, flashed one last smile to Alex, and raced to the car, her red ponytail flying behind her.

Once she reached the car, she waved a few times, yelling "bye!"

"See ya!" Alex called, waving back.

"Make sure to annoy Sean!" Samheed yelled after her. Alex laughed and kicked him in the shin. Meghan winked at them and slid into her car. They watched her car roll down the long driveway until it was only a spot in the distance.

"Alex?" Alex heard a voice call from behind him. He whirled around. It was Aaron. And his family was standing behind him.

"Oh..." was all Alex said. He turned back to Samheed. "I guess that's my cue."

Samheed nodded, a slight frown on his face. "Look...I...I'm sorry for the way I used to treat you. Meeting you, I gained a great friend. And I hope we can continue being friends next summer."

Alex gave him a smile. "You kidding? Of course we'll be friends!"

Samheed looked relieved. "Okay. Now get outta here, Stowe, before I get sad from having no company."

Alex punched him in the shoulder playfully. "That's too bad for you."

Samheed laughed. "Yeah. Well...see you next summer."

Alex nodded. "See you then."

They shook hands and went their separate ways.

He took one last look at the beautiful Camp Artime, the sky stunningly blue and the grass healthy and green. He felt incredibly sad, yet happy at the same time. And right before he turned around, someone caught his eye.

Mr. Today was standing at the top of the hill, a wide grin on his face. He was waving. That was all Alex needed to see. He waved and turned back to his waiting family, hoisting his heavy bag over his shoulder.

"How was camp?" Alex's dad asked.

Alex shared a look with Aaron, and they both smiled.

"Great."

The whole ride home, Alex was very tempted to open the package Meghan had given him. Curiosity was about to swallow him whole. But her words echoed in his head. _Don't open it until you get home._

The minute his plain, gray house pulled into view, he raced out of the car and up to his room. He didn't bother to talk to his parents or Aaron. They'd be hearing a lot of stories later. He placed the package on the floor, took a deep breath, and tore it open.

Various items were inside. First, there was an origami dragon, which he knew was from Lani. He smiled and placed it on his nightstand. He dug through the other items in the box until he came across something familiar. His eyes widened.

 _It was the pamphlet!_

He couldn't believe they still had it! With shaking hands, he started to open it, but something stopped him. Something told him to not open it yet.

He set it on the floor beside him and looked through more of the package. He smiled, as each object resembled a memory. One was Samheed's flashlight. Another was a paintbrush from art class.

When he got to the very bottom of the package, he pulled out something small. He flipped it over and immediately teared up.

It was a polaroid. He'd forgotten about that picture. It was taken of him, Meghan, Lani, and Samheed right after the competition. He knew, without a doubt, they'd meet again. And whenever 'then' was, wherever it was, he knew one thing: it was sure to be sunny and full of color.

He smiled as he stared at the four of them, all beaming proudly, arms thrown around each other.

Then, he looked at the caption written underneath it in black marker, and his breath hitched. Mr. Today's words rang true.

 _If nothing ever changed, there'd be no such thing as butterflies._


	8. Turning Pages

Claire Morning wanted absolutely nothing to do with this.

She told him she didn't like him. She told him she'd never forgive him. Told him she was never speaking to him again. She pushed him away as far as she could out of her life, never looking him right in the eye when he turned her way.

So how exactly did this man manage to catch her completely alone and off guard?

Claire was busy stacking new equipment that day, which ranged from musical instruments to portable microphones. It had taken nearly the entire day to label everything, put each item in individual boxes, and place them in their appropriate closets. She was nearly finished stacking her last box when the door banged open abruptly and quite loudly.

She was so surprised she dropped her box and fell from her ladder, as if in slow motion. She heard someone shout her name. She shut her eyes and hoped for the best. She really hoped she wouldn't be throwing out her back. That wouldn't sound very nice.

But instead of landing on the floor, she ended up somewhere else. Somewhere that was surprisingly soft and solid.

"C-Claire?" said a familiar, much too nervous voice.

Slowly opening her eyes, she let out the breath she was holding. She found herself staring straight into Liam Healy's eyes. She felt her pulse quicken, and for a minute, she couldn't even process a thought. It was like the whole world had stopped. She forgot she hated him. Forgot he had helped with the attack on her father…

She blinked. _Wait, what?_

"Liam?" she asked, her voice threateningly low. "Can you put me down? _Now_."

It wasn't a question. He nodded vigorously and set her carefully onto her feet. "I'm sorry!" he said, his voice raising an octave. He cleared his throat. "I—um…"

Claire just looked at him. She crossed her arms. "Why are you here, Liam?"

Liam managed a shaky smile, his eyes resembling an adorable lost puppy. _No, not adorable,_ Claire reminded herself. Liam was anything but adorable. And he certainly wasn't cute. He never was very handsome, either. Claire pinched herself hard.

 _Shut up,_ she told her brain.

"So you're talking to me now?" he asked, hopefulness filling his voice.

"No," she said swiftly, moving past him to set the last box onto her shelf. She climbed the latter more carefully this time and slid the box in place with the others. When she was done, she climbed back down. She turned back to him. "You never answered my question."

Liam tilted his head. "What question?"

Claire just sighed. "Why. Are. You. Here?"

His eyes widened and he quickly raced back to the door, picking something up. But before she could see what it was, he hid it behind his back. He walked towards her, his face growing increasingly nervous. He took a deep breath and held her gaze. "I wanted to ask you something."

Claire raised her eyebrows. Her brain was screaming at her to just run away already. And she normally would've by now. But for some reason, her feet stayed routed to the ground. She couldn't move, even though her heart depended on it. Inwardly terrified, all she could do was stare at him.

 _It couldn't be that bad, right?_

"Claire," he said, getting much closer than she would've preferred. "I was wondering- well, o-only if you wanted to. I-m-mean, I thought it'd be f-fun if we um, go for a—walk? Or out to d-dinner? You don't have to! I can go by myself! But o-only if you want! We c-can both decide!"

He cringed at his outburst and bowed his head. In a flash, he held up the object behind his back, which Claire now recognized was a bouquet of flowers. And he probably went through all the trouble to pick them out… just for her. She was completely speechless, something that didn't occur often.

 _Liam had just…asked her out?!_

Claire's brain raced a mile a minute. Her heart pounded in her chest. All she could do was stare at the colorful flowers, wrapped in the neatest bouquet she had ever seen. She glanced back up at his face and could tell he was visibly shaking. She almost felt like throwing up. She tried to think of something to say. But what?

She should just say no. It wouldn't help her case since she swore to stay mad at him forever. But every time she tried to say the word, it didn't come out. Just like her legs, her mouth was working against her.

"I'd love that."

Her eyes widened as she heard the words escape her. Liam's eyes widened to, and he straightened up and stared at her. His confused expression formed into a happy one. "Wait, really?!"

Claire was _so_ going to blame herself for this. She hadn't meant to say that! No way was she going out with him! She tried to shake her head, but it came out more like a nod. _Ugh, seriously?_

She tried to think of an explanation to why she'd even said yes, but she couldn't find any. Liam grinned and did something that took her by more surprise than she was already going through. He threw his arms around her, pulling her into a quick hug.

Claire couldn't breathe. She was positive she was going to have a heart attack. But this was almost worse than the actual "heart attack" spell. Because this time, it wasn't her father getting pelted.

It was _her._

Liam let go as suddenly as the hug had come, his face a bright red. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just wasn't expecting you to say yes. Where should we meet?"

"Right at the front doors of the mansion?" Claire suggested, her voice barely audible.

He nodded and backed away towards the door. "Okay! I—I'm really looking forward to this! T-thank you!

He gasped and suddenly ran to her, handing her the bouquet of flowers he'd been holding. "Couldn't forget to give you those!" he said, finally skidding out the door, falling straight into Simber as he ran down the stairs.

Claire couldn't help but laugh as the terrified Liam murmured a thousand apologizes and raced away from Simber. The large stone cheetah raised his eyebrows and turned to her with a very amused expression. "Did I miss something, Claireee?"

She couldn't help but grin. "Not at all."

* * *

The rest of the day was a blur as she went through her afternoon classes. She might've been teaching well enough, but her mind was elsewhere. Whenever she had a spare moment, whenever she wasn't demonstrating how to hold an instrument the right way, she was always staring at the clock.

She didn't notice the sly or mischievous looks some of her students were giving each other. She didn't notice the whispered conversations or the rare quietness of the classroom that seldom occurred. She didn't even notice Lani Haluki, one of her younger students in the class, writing up a quick poem and setting it on her desk. She was in such a daze, the only thing that snapped her out of it was when the bell rang for next class. She jumped and turned to her students to announce they could leave…only to see they had mysteriously vanished.

She frowned. Huh. Well _this_ had never happened before.

That was when she noticed a small piece of paper on her desk. Something was scribbled on it in a handwriting she couldn't quite identify. She picked it up and peered closer. It looked like…a poem?

She read it aloud.

" _Your smile shines like the sun, your eyes light up my world,_

 _Whenever I'm around you, you make my heart soar,_

 _I can't take this torture, this hope that fills me once more,_

 _So will you do me the honors and meet me at 4?"_

 _\- L_

Claire felt herself grow warm, her stomach doing somersaults and all kinds of rocketing moves. She could hardly control her emotions anymore. She sighed and set the poem back down. She'd always known that one day…this would happen. One of them wouldn't be able to take it anymore. Deep down, although she hated to admit it, this was something she'd always wanted. She slid her bag over her shoulder and walked out the door, making sure to lock her classroom behind her.

It looked like she was meeting Liam Healy at 4.

* * *

It took longer for Claire to get ready than expected. At first, all she planned to so was change into a nice, casual outfit. But somehow, between remembering his poem and the bouquet of flowers he'd given her, that didn't seem like the appropriate thing to do. He'd put so much effort into this…she'd feel bad if she didn't try too.

After she was done freshening herself up, she put on the prettiest casual dress she had. It was a short light pink dress-not too fancy, not too laid-back. She tried to ignore her nerves as she put on a necklace with a heart attached, looking vaguely similar to the heart attack component.

She shook off the thought. Liam was trying to show his forgiveness, and she had to accept that. It had been almost two years since the incident, anyways. She should just let it go. Forgive and forget.

She marched to the bathroom and sat down in front of the mirror. Taking one look at her hair, she grabbed a comb from her vanity drawer and brushed through it, wincing as she encountered a knot. When she was done with that, she twisted her hair into a low bun.

For the finishing touch, she added some red lipstick and a touch of blush. She looked herself up and down and nodded in approval. Over the years, she had visibly grown more beautiful. She wondered what her father, Mr. Today would say.

Would he approve of this?

Claire thought about it and hesitated. He had always been forgiving and kind. And…he'd never wanted to hurt anyone, not even his twin, the former High Priest, Justine. So that would mean…he _would_ approve. He would. And she could feel it in her heart, no matter how scared she was, that she was doing the right thing. She took a few deep breaths and tried ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She was utterly terrified, confused, and lost. But whatever happened tonight, she was ready.

A little before 4, Claire walked down the spiral staircase to the mansion's front doors. On the way, she smiled as she passed group of kids that she often saw together: Alex Stowe, Sky, Lani Haluki, and Samheed Burkesh. They all had identical grins on their faces.

"You look really dressed up tonight, Ms. Morning," Samheed told her, looking like he was internally struggling. Lani elbowed him in the ribs as the others stifled laughs.

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "What's that got to do with your questionable ability to sing, Mr. Burkesh?"

Everyone burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. Samheed turned a shade of red. "Hey!" he said, looking around at his friends. His eyes landed on Lani. "What? You too?"

Lani choked out a "yes," too busy clutching her stomach.

Claire just shook her head in disapproval at the teenagers. "You kids…" she muttered.

That was when looked back at the stairwell and saw _him._

He was dressed in a white button-down shirt and black pants. Like her, he had cleaned himself up, even brushing his hair. In other words, he looked…well…incredible.

She couldn't help but smile as he walked up to her, the group parting to let him pass. Liam stared at her, taking in her appearance breathlessly. "You look a-amazing, Claire."

Claire felt the heat rise to her cheeks. For a moment, she couldn't take her eyes off of his. "Thank you. You look nice, yourself."

He cleared his throat and extended his elbow. "Shall we?"

She linked her elbow with his. "We shall."

Together, they opened the front doors of the mansion and stepped outside. To her surprise, the lawn was completely empty. And even more surprising, there were candles on either side of the pathway leading up to the stunning water fountain. And right next to that was a small round table set for two.

She felt touched. She glanced over at Liam, feeling the sudden urge to grab his hand. "You set this up?"

Liam nodded. "Yes. But I had help, of course."

Claire had a feeling she knew exactly who had helped him, but she didn't say. This was their night, not anyone else's.

She let him lead her to the table. As she sat down, she had to once again admire the time and effort he'd put into their date. Napkins, folded into origami dragons, were resting on their plates. A few candles were in the center of the table as well, along with a vase of various-colored flowers. The magical tray of food was already set out for them, so whatever they wanted to eat would appear whenever they asked for it.

"Liam…" she said softly. He looked up and didn't say anything, as if he was already too nervous to even try. She took a deep breath and clasped her hands in front of her. Better now than never.

"I know how…complicated things have been between us. And I know…majority of it…was your fault."

He averted his eyes, his face falling, so she quickly continued. "But now…I have to realize. It's not just you. It's my fault, too. What happened with my father wasn't entirely your doing. It was Quill's. You were just doing as you were told so you wouldn't get killed. Most people would've done the same. And it's my fault for being so cold towards you. I have to learn to forgive. But well…I'm not exactly sure how."

Liam lifted his gaze, his expression changing. He no longer looked nervous, or scared at what she might say. He looked confident. He reached over and took her hand, causing her to flinch ever so slightly. But she didn't want to pull away. Not anymore.

"If you can forgive me…that'd make me incredibly happy. You have to know…everything I've done is because of you. Feeding you when you were held captive, sneaking you water without getting caught…even saving Fifer and Thisbee and bringing them here. I know you push me away…but it's almost like I can't _stay_ away. C-Claire…it's like I'm tethered to you. No matter how many times we run away, I always end up in the same place. Right in front of you."

He swallowed hard and tightened his hold on Claire, as if she might try to escape. But she didn't. This time, it wasn't just her body that wouldn't move, but it was her _heart_ that didn't want to move. She had fallen under his spell, completely and utterly mesmerized by him.

"But right now, I know that it isn't a bad thing anymore. Please don't hate me anymore. Or shut me out. I can't live with it. I love-"

He was cut off as she leaned across the table and pressed her lips against his. His eyes widened in a panic, but he ended up just giving in and letting it go. In their minds, fireworks were exploding. They hardly heard the cheering many people and creatures were making as they watched the couple from inside.

After a few seconds, they pulled away and simply stared into each other's eyes, the rest of the world forgotten. "It's okay," Claire whispered. "I love you too."

She began laughing at the look on his face and sat back in her seat. Both of their hearts were soaring. Liam joined in, his face even redder than before, and soon they were laughing hysterically, as if they were only children becoming friends for the first time. And for the first time, everything melted into the same perfect moment.


	9. What A Mess

Hey everyone! Oh my godddd I'm so sorry for not updating in 2-3 months! Don't worry, I'm still continuing this awesome Unwanteds fic :) Just know that writing a story can take from a few days to two weeks depending on how long I want the story to be and how focused I am at it. I'm definitely going to get all your requests in ASAP! Please keep reviewing and following and favoriting, and tell me how you like each story I do! Once again I'm sooo sorry for not updating in a while. Thank you for being such rad fans! Enjoyyyyyyy

(PS, I love writing angst so BE WARNED)

* * *

College, it seemed, wasn't all Lani Haluki had hoped for.

It all started just a month ago. That was when things went, well, downhill. Very downhill. She was three months in her freshman year of college, adjusting between making new friends and just trying to remember her schedule. The first thing shouldn't have even been a problem.

She had a nice enough roommate, an international student all the way from China, who was fairly quiet and hardly had stopped to talk to Lani...not even to say "hello." And as far as she knew, "hello" was a word all learners of the English language should know. Lani knew something they _did_ have in common, which was they both liked to read. She always saw her roommate huddled under her blanket at night, a bright nightlight only slightly dimmed by the covers as she read. And despite all that, Lani either had forgotten the girl's name, or had never learned it.

Outside her room, she often talked to her dorm-mates, including others she had classes with. By talking and doing her best to hang out with them during meals, she met even more from those people. But she soon realized the obvious- this wasn't high school. There was a huge shift in the amount of students attending her college compared to high school and even middle school. Sure, it was a lot of people, but it wasn't anything Lani couldn't handle! At least, that was what she _told_ herself every morning. Gradually, the people she met turned from strangers to acquaintances. But none had made it to being her friend. No one seemed to invite her to parties or invite her to lunch. But she would do the same for them. She only wanted to make friends, but it almost seemed like they didn't want to do anything with her. It was strange. A lot of times, she just didn't feel like she was making any progress in making friends- no matter how hard she tried. After three months, a girl like her should've already made _at least_ five friends, right?

Majority of the young adults at her college seemed just too out of her league and intelligence to even be friends with her at all. Sure, Lani had gotten into a great school, all because she was smart, including the fact that she wanted to be a best-selling author someday, but ever since she started going to this school she hadn't seemed to fit in. She felt her doubts and worries build up everyday someone invited their group of friends to lunch. She wasn't often included in those groups. She felt as if people were judging her if she got an answer wrong. And she knew that wasn't right, because everyone she had come across had been friendly and welcoming. But this just wasn't the same as high school.

Lani had had high expectations. And when she figured college would be an awful lot like high school, she meant it. She found herself missing high school-if not the meaning and great experiences of it- everyday. She'd made a lot friends since freshman to senior year. High school had gone by in a flash, and after graduation, after all the parties and promises to see each other again, everyone got ready for college. Lani found herself hanging out with the people who had always been there for her: Alex Stowe, Meghan Ranger, and Samheed Burkesh.

Before college started, everything seemed easier. They were out of high school, and had grown into young adults. The fun that they had in high school had grown into fond memories. They started hanging out less with the friends they weren't as close to. It didn't take long for reality to set in. The friends started to talk more about what the future would hold.

Theories arose, like where they would end up ten years from now, what career would they pursue once college was over, and would they ever get married? Would they have kids? What kind of path would they take…and how long would each if them live? Lani had thought a lot about this before she even graduated, but once the realization set in, she had to admit to herself...she was scared. All her friends were off to different colleges than her. All of them would probably have a different future. And maybe they'd never even have time for each other anymore. Maybe they'd never see each other again.

For Samheed, colleges had noticed him in sophomore year. Being the best actor out of the entire theatre club, it wasn't a surprise to anyone he was going to have a big future. Skip ahead a few years, high school was over, and Samheed had high hopes-much higher than everyone could've had. He'd been told he would take a theatre camp in the summer before attending college. And since he such a talented young actor and director, the future of even becoming famous was possible for him. Which meant there would be almost no time for him to hang out with his friends...including Lani, who HAD just started dating him senior year.

When high school was over, Alex and Meghan had different stories.

Alex was off to a professional art school, which was positioned closest to Lani's college, only being five hours away. He had gotten much praise for his work from many other artists and teachers. He was as excited as Samheed, but possibly a little more sad to see his friends off. He didn't have as promising as a future of becoming famous as Samheed did, but he would at least have as much free time as Lani would. Although he denied it, everyone believed his art could end up in a popular museum, hanging among the other famous artists from centuries before.

As for the red-haired dancer with a beautiful singing voice, Meghan was off to a college that specialized in those arts. She hoped to work somewhere in New York when she was older, so she could star in big musicals or have a dance studio of her own someday. She was excited, possibly as excited as Samheed. Her talents had caught the eye of many influential people in the music industry. If that wasn't enough praise, her music teacher, Ms. Morning, had told her many times that her voice was the best in the entire school. While Meghan tried not to let this get to her head, even she couldn't help bragging to Lani and Alex (who would only respond by staring at each other in silence as if they were on The Office)

But then it happened. First Samheed went off to professional theatre camp for that summer, only sometimes coming back on the weekends to stop by and see them. As the three waited for college to start, Lani, Alex, and Meghan saw their best friend less and less. Lani found herself growing more disappointed each time he was forced to leave her in the middle of a date to practice for shows. After a month, he started to skip their hang-outs and small parties more often than not. At first, he'd said it was because of a show he couldn't afford to miss. But the other times had simply "slipped his mind." This didn't seem to bother Alex and Meghan too much, though. They adjusted quickly, and often ended up inviting Sky, Aaron, and Kaylee to have small parties as the summer sped by. Lani wasn't sure why they weren't as effected by Samheed's absence. Maybe it was because Lani was the one dating him and he kept rescheduling? She tried to be more like her friends-going on crazy late-night adventures and simply enjoying every moment.

It was finally beginning.

Things were changing, and as exciting as it seemed for her friends, Lani Haluki didn't like any bit of it.

Things got worse. College practically slapped her in the face with its arrival. Three months into her freshman year was when things went crazy. She'd gotten a part-time job on the weekends as a cashier at the bookstore down the block from her school. Every few weeks, she and Alex would meet up halfway at a cafe or park to catch up on things face to face. She tended to see Meghan less, so they did their best to make room around their busy schedules to FaceTime or send each other postcards. As for some of her less close friends, like Sky, Kaylee, or Aaron, she managed to call them every once in a while and see how their lives were going. She'd finally begun to adjust to her lonelier life, and was now regaining her strength to make it through life and find new friends.

She was sitting at the register, lazily reading a book as she waited for people to buy something. Her phone buzzed beside her. She grabbed for it and checked the caller.

It was Samheed.

She hadn't heard a call from him in over a week, which was uncommon for her since they usually called each other every night to see how the other was doing.

Lani briefly wondered if anything was wrong. She just shook it off. "No," she'd said to herself. "Just answer the phone. He's probably calling to apologize for not reaching you in over a week."

She put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Lani! Something amazing happened!" On the other end, his voice sounded almost on the verge of tears, but it wasn't from being upset. He was happiest than she'd ever heard him all semester. That didn't surprise her, but it said a lot. He was happy every day at the huge acting college he went to.

She gripped the phone harder. She had a bad feeling about this. Something big had obviously happened to him. And while it was obviously good, but she had a feeling she wouldn't like she was hearing.

"What?" she asked excitedly, forcing all the happiness she could muster into her voice.

"IGOTAHUGEACTINGROLEINAMOVIEANDIWASCHOSENOUTOFFIFTYGUYSFORTHEPART!"

 _"What?"_ Lani repeated louder. "Talk slower! I can hardly even understand you that fast, Sam!"

"I got a huge acting role in a movie and I was chosen out of fifty guys for the part!" Samheed repeated, much slower this time, but even more excited. She could practically see him grinning like crazy; happiness exploding through him as he found out he got to star in a movie. Not even thinking twice about any of his friends. And movies took long to film. Weeks. Months. Maybe even an entire _year_.

An actual movie.

Lani felt all the air leave her chest. Her hope deflated. The only sound was of her ears ringing. Her heart pounded as she slumped further in her chair. Her book had somehow slipped from her hand and slammed into the ground, but she hardly heard the noise it made. She wasn't listening to Samheed anymore, who -ignorant as ever - continued talking about his new movie and all the details on it. She heard only bits of every sentence, like "a full year and a half," "a country away," "no time off." She muttered a few false words of encouragement, the last of the boy she was in love with slipping away from her…

Right.

Under.

Her.

Nose.

After she hung up, she packed her bag and drove home-back to freshman dorm. Both good and bad news, her untalkatative international roommate had been asleep when she got there. Good news? She didn't want any questions. Not that she'd be able to understand a question in Chinese. Nonetheless, she could've used someone to talk to. Even if they didn't understand a word she said.

She hated herself for crying that night.

It was the kind of crying that only meant self-pity and only guaranteed guilt. She did her best to muffle her sobs into her many thick pillows and blankets, all so she wouldn't wake up her sleeping roommate. But it didn't seem to do a thing. The girl woke up eventually, and when she saw Lani there, tears streaming down her face and her hair an unbrushed mess, her pajamas carelessly fitted around her and a bowl of ice cream on her nightstand, and she did what any person would do, English-speaking or not.

She walked over and hugged her.

* * *

It was a week before Christmas, and Lani was studying hard for her next big exam. She wasn't very hungry from cramming in endless amounts of studying the night before. It wasn't like she _hadn't_ studied earlier, but she needed to make time for her other classes. So any free time she wasn't doing work for other things, she was studying hard for her upcoming exam. She found it easy to focus on work rather than the fact that Samheed was hardly unable to talk to her anymore. Unlike most of her classmates who preferred hanging out with friends on the weekends and daytime, Lani wisely chose the off-time to study in the 3rd floor of the library, where silence was a must. Besides all this studying, she made sure to talk to her professors about any and all information she should know. Hard work was making things appear a little less gray.

A month has passed since she'd heard the news that Samheed was now acting in a movie. Work began to eat up even more of his time, not even allowing her to call him as much as she used to. She had started to accept the shift of their dynamic by simply focusing on her studies. Even so, she found herself missing him...especially him. Everytime she got the chance to hear his voice, she would break into a uncontrollable stammer as she went through any events in her life he had missed (which wasn't much compared to him). Whenever they hung up, promising to call each other soon, she was unable to not feel flushed at their short, quick, and rare phone calls. Her heart ached for him, Alex, and Meghan, and she found herself staring at their countless pictures together-hung on her side of her room-with a longing hope and an empty, endless void that stayed put in her stomach and didn't seem to go away.

But this was just like anything in life. What happened before things got better? Things got worse.

And a month later, during her endless amounts of studying, just a week before Christmas, she heard graver news...much, much graver news. Christmas time was supposed to be about happiness and fun, right? Not in her case. It never seemed to be in her case anymore. The world was relentless and cruel-as if she'd done something to deserve this. She didn't know things could shatter any more. She didn't know the already broken pieces of her heart could become even more cracked and desolate than it'd been when the boy she loved officially slipped away from her like a balloon floating towards the sky and never returning.

That Sunday morning, the phone call was from Alex. He normally would prefer texting her if he wanted to talk. This wasn't common unless he really felt in the mood to talk to her and hear her voice for a change.

He never called.

It was an early morning on Sunday and Lani hadn't gotten any sleep, which was mostly from the hours upon hours of studying and reviewing material last night. But something different was bothering her, bugging her-making her restless. For some reason that morning, she'd felt uneasy and tense. And when she got that phone call, she knew why.

She remembered the immediate "Something just happened," that followed the second she answered the phone. Alex's voice was strained and cracked as he struggled to form sentences. But it was enough for her to hear. That morning she'd heard "Meghan" and "dead" in the same sentence. She hardly remembered demanding Alex question after question through her cries and pleads. What had happened? Why it had happened? Who killed her? What kind of person would even do that?

She didn't remember if he answered her, but next thing she knew she was standing in front of the TV, her eyes glued to the News. A reporter stood in front of an apartment building-Meghan's apartment building-delivering the grim details. "Yes, she was a professional dancer and singer," the reporter was saying. "What we know so far is she and her boyfriend and co-worker-Cole Wickett, were walking home from the theater on Saturday night. When they got inside her apartment, he got very drunk. A witness and fellow neighbor of Ranger's from across the hall heard a gunshot and immediately called the police. By the time police got there, security was already handcuffing Wickett and had his firearm taken away. Meghan Ranger was found dead on the floor-"

Lani switched off the TV abruptly, her mind a swirling, uncontrollable mass. Meghan was dead.

She was _dead._

Everything happened very quickly. Her head spun. Her hands began to shake, the way they always did when she was having a breakdown. She screamed for her best friend, screamed at the TV, screamed at the world for being so cruel. She couldn't get the image out of her head-Meghan lying lifelessly on the floor of her apartment-a bullet hole embedded in her chest, her green eyes growing more distant with each second.

She fell to her knees. Everything was over. It was all over. The frustration…the pain…everything hurt so badly. She couldn't have done anything to save her. One of her best friends was dead. Just like that. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream more. She wanted to stomp and yell and _hear_ something besides the ringing of her ears. She wanted to run all the way over to Hollywood and slap Samheed for not even supporting her and Alex. He probably didn't even know what happened to Meghan. She wanted to feel something besides loneliness and exhaustion and sorrow again.

She staggered back into a ball, making herself as small as possible. _I've always been small_ , came an unnecessary thought in the back of her mind. Instead of pushing the thought away, she embraced it. Yes, she'd always been small. And small was for the weak. Was that was she was, now? Weak? Her fingers tangled in her hair as she tried to take deep, calming breaths. Her shoulders shook as she shielded her face from the cruel world, her head buried in her knees. She repeated a constant string of "no's" over and over again. She wished with all her heart to turn back time and do everything over again. She wanted to do a rerun. Redo all the mistakes she's done. Could she even forgive herself for not being there to save Meghan? But she forced herself to think the logical way-the way she always used to. She wasn't a time traveler. She wasn't a warrior. She wasn't a savior or a hero. She was a girl. And she couldn't scream anymore...not even if she wanted to.

After a while she looked up into the tall, wall length mirror in front of her.

She studied herself for a moment. With her blue irises red from crying, her unbrushed dark hair in her hands, and her exhausted expression, all she wanted to do was jump in one of her favorite books and stay there forever, never to return to the real world again.

* * *

Slow.

That was the way things were now. The way they seemed...all the time. Slow to get out of bed in the morning. Slow to tune into what the professors were saying during classes. Slow to walk. Slow to fall asleep.

Within the past week, everything seemed sluggish to Lani. Studying took more time than usual, but she'd convinced herself it was only because she was tired, not because of grief. Even still, it took effort to move. Every day felt like drowning, and she was struggling to rise back to the surface.

On the outside, she remained to act as normal as she could, faking a smile now and then when someone would talk to her. She wasn't sure anyone else had heard about Meghan's death. Although it was on the news, she had a feeling no one knew she was friends with her. But that wouldn't help her. She didn't want all that sympathy directed towards her. She'd already dealt with her mother dying when she was thirteen years old. That had been enough.

Lani exited the stairway, running her hand along the rail as another held her backpack. She'd just finished another exhausting day of classes, and while she could've always stayed in her dorm room and worked from there, she preferred asking her professors any questions directly. She hurried to the main entrance of the building she was in. After opening the heavy wooden door with some difficulty, she wasn't surprised at all to see a fresh snowfall littering the campus. It had been snowing constantly for nearly two days straight.

She decided to take a walk. After all, she had nowhere to be. That would help her clear her head and simply walking around campus would feel nice. The snowflakes falling on her face was almost refreshing after staying inside the warm, almost stuffy buildings.

She shivered as the cold hit her exposed face and ears. She was bundled up in her college hoodie, jeans, tall brown combat boots, and a gray beanie. She hastily pulled her hat farther down her face to shield it any better.

Lani wandered around, lost in her own thoughts, when an unexpected ringing noise blared from her backpack. She jumped a little, as the silence was broken. She quickly took her bag off her shoulders and tore open the zipper. She dug around and finally found her phone in between two of the books she was reading. There was no time to close her backpack up yet. She tapped the answer button without checking the caller and held it to her ear.

"Yes?" she asked, partly out of breath. With her free hand, she closed her bag up and threw it over her shoulder.

"Lani!" the voice said. It sounded like Alex. "I haven't talked to you since..."

Lani nodded and started up on walking again. She'd missed hearing his voice, even if it was only over the phone. It was something Samheed never did anymore.

"I know," she said.

"It isn't okay what happened," he said. "It's been hard getting over this...especially so soon to Christmas."

Lani took a straggling breath. "Yeah. I actually might've forgotten it was going to be Christmas in two days."

"Might've? How can you forget about Christmas of all things?"

Despite her mood, Lani felt a tiny smile form on her face. "I guess I haven't been thinking lately."

"I get what you mean. Do you think Samheed heard?"

She swallowed hard. "No. I don't know. H-he hasn't talked to me. He hasn't called in ages. I need-"

"He hasn't been calling me either-"

She turned a corner and walked down to the center of campus: always a nice place to sit around. It had a water fountain that was always running when it wasn't cold out, a few benches, and a large garden surrounding it. More people were walking around this part of campus.

"He doesn't even make time to talk to me anymore! All he cares about now is his movie! Not his friends. Not me!"

With every word, Lani felt her thoughts and worries pouring out. They'd been bottled up for so long. Once she let them out, she couldn't stop.

"Are you-" Alex tried to ask, but Lani cut him off again.

"He's so obsessed with his movie he doesn't even care about the outside world! He's going to be famous, and he won't even know Meghan is _dead_. Our best friend!"

"I-"

"No," she said bitterly, hot tears forming in her eyes. "Sam doesn't even know. And even if he did, I don't think he'd have time to call."

"But-"

"It's like every best friend I've had has left me! First Samheed with his acting career, t-then Meghan."

She sniffled and peered up into the gray sky, allowing snowflakes to fall softly on her face. Tears began to fall across her cheeks, but she didn't wipe them away. It felt good to cry and let her emotions out for a change. She didn't care anymore if people gave her weird or concerned looks as they passed. She might've been the type of person to wear her heart on her sleeve, but she didn't often cry in public.

"And next," she continued, gasping through her words. "And n-next..you. Something will happen and you'll leave me, and all my best friends will be gone."

"That's not true!" Alex cried. "No, Lani, you can't believe-"

"It's true-!"

This time, he cut her off completely. "I understand what your feeling! I'm going through all this too. But you have to know I'm not leaving you. I'm right here."

"No you're not!" Lani said, her voice rising as she became more distressed. "It's already been two of our closest friends that we've lost! Now _you!_ "

"LANI!" he practically shouted in her ear. She finally stopped talking altogether, taking deep breaths and trying to calm her straying emotions.

"What?" she said quietly.

"I'm won't ever leave you," he said calmly. "I'm right here."

"But..." she muttered.

"Tell me the truth. Are you okay?"

Lani stared into the white hills of snow all over campus. She thought about everything that had happened. Her roommate who could hardly speak English, the months of feeling neglected, the feeling of having no friends, being so far away from home, Samheed starring in a movie, and finally, Meghan's death. She'd been lying every time she'd said she was okay. The first few months of college had been hard. Life hadn't been fun in a while. She had to face the facts.

"No," she answered finally, choking to speak through her sobs. "I'm not. I'm not okay. I'm pretty sure you've known this by now. I'm so lonely, Alex. I need you."

She heard something that resembled a sigh and a small laugh from Alex. "And you don't have to need me any longer. I'm here."

Lani blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Turn around."

She whipped around. Surrounding the fountain and gardens were many people walking around and talking. Her eyes scanned the area, until she caught sight of someone waving from a bench next to a large tree. Her heart jumped in her throat as a huge grin spread across the young man's face. He jumped up as soon as her eyes locked with his, and he stuffed his phone in his coat pocket. Tears stung her eyes as she found herself walking, and then running, then full on sprinting towards her remaining best friend. She ran as fast as her short legs could carry her, and she was grateful when he ran towards her as well. A grin was on her face now, her hair flying after her. He spread his arms wide open as she raced towards him, her heart racing a mile a minute.

She banged straight into Alex at full force, laughing and sobbing as he threw his arms around her. She unpinned her arms from her sides and hugged him back tighter than she'd ever hugged anyone. As she clung to him, she felt her resolve strengthening. They'd both been through a lot. She gasped in surprise as she felt herself being lifted into the air, and soon he was swinging her around in their embrace. She closed her eyes, her remaining tears fading into his chest. All at once, the gray world turned colorful. Her best friend was here.

Alex Stowe was here.

Finally, he set her down. His hands rested gently on her arms, the grin still on his face. "I told you I was here!"

Lani couldn't help smacking his arm. She also couldn't help the joyous smile that wouldn't go away. He was actually here! "You are a dolt."

Alex laughed and patted her on the head. He was still a good head taller than her, maybe even taller due to her boots. His hair was cut shorter than the last time she'd seen it, but those warm brown eyes of his never changed. Besides his winter coat, he wore paint-stained corduroy pants and a colorful scarf around his neck.

"I know. You've told me that a lot. I've also noticed that girls cry a lot."

Lani snorted. She could see his eyes watering too. "Girls are allowed to cry, boys are just too stubborn to."

Alex rolled his eyes, the bright smile not fading. "Hey, now that I'm here and all, I think it'd be fun if we celebrated Christmas together. Me and Aaron are renting a house together and you can stay with us!"

Lani grinned. Her eyes were still filled with tears that threatened to spill. But this time, they weren't tears of distress. "You don't even know how amazing that sounds. Of course I want to! But I can't believe you're actually even here!"

Alex put his arm around her in a side hug. "I'm here because I'm your best friend, that's why. Nobody is leaving you. From now on, you won't be sad, okay? Because if you're sad and you start crying again, Samheed will decide I'm abusive or something."

Lani laughed. "I don't cry!"

To make even more of a point, a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away once she noticed Alex watching with an amused expression.

"Obviously," Alex joked. "Think positive. I'm going to force you to have so much fun and we're going to bake stuff together and go out singing Christmas carols even though Sky, of all people, says my voice sounds like a dying whale."

Lani tried very hard not to laugh at that. She wiped her face again. "That's a lot of optimism."

"I'm optimistic like that."

She sniffled and stared into the large and frosted water fountain, which had formed long, thin icicles at the bottom. "Sorry for crying all over you. I don't know what came over me."

"Don't apologize! You're under a lot of stress." He was staring into the water fountain too. "Plus," he added with a growing sly smile she couldn't quite see. "Alexander Stowe does have a way with the ladies."

This time, Lani couldn't hold back her laughter. She lightly punched his arm and decided to change to topic to their Christmas plans. For the first time in a long while, excitement and happiness took away her bad thoughts. It was hard to be crying anymore. "Sooooo, what kind of cookies do you want to bake?"

He looked at her and beamed. He seemed glad she was focusing on better things than heartbreak and grief. "Every kind! Chocolate chip, sugar, m&m, exedra."

"And we have to make cake! And I'll force you to have a dance party with me to make the neighbors jealous."

Alex smiled, his eyes as warm and happy as hers. He linked his arm with hers and pulled her along the garden pathway. "Look at you being optimistic."

Lani finally felt at peace again. The past few months had been hard, but she had to heal. So did Alex. And there was a lot of time to recover and grow. Every moment shouldn't be wasted sulking. She'd done enough of that. But with him, she had more strength to get better. Her best friend was with her, and that was all that mattered. Things might change later on, and Samheed might open up more time to see them, but for now, it was best to look up. She had Alex, and with him, she couldn't feel sad. All that mattered was the present, just having fun and living out this rocky adventure. Things had been tough, and even now she wasn't fully recovered from the scars of the last few months. She wasn't certain of anything anymore except her strong bond with her remaining best friend. She didn't have to face this alone. Neither did he. They could be mended.

They could mend from this.

She shrugged and gave him a side smile, the cracks in her heart finally starting to put themselves back together. "It beats crying everyday, that's for sure."


	10. Battle Wounds

_Oh, time and wasted bullets._

 _Oh, nothing here is as it should be._

 _Oh, in time we'll make it through this._

 _Oh, in time._

* * *

The battle against the pirates and Warblerians was brutally exhausting.

While she knew it'd only been for hours since the pirates came ashore and began fighting the Artimeans in combat, Lani felt like it was for days. She knew her team was in trouble from the moment she saw the pirates; they were as big as they were strong. The fight itself was a blur. Lani was too caught up in the fight to remember vague details. First she'd thrown scatterclip after scatterclip and then moved in on firing the heart attack spells. It took a few shots to kill one pirate. Things only seemed to get worse instead of better.

A rather smelly and large pirate who'd tried to capture her had fallen on-top of her (not recommended), something that physically immobilized her due to her size. It took a many long frustrating minutes until she finally calmed herself down enough to utter the spell that she'd seen Alex often use. Taking a few deep, calming breaths, she put Queen Eagala's face in her mind. "Transport."

The hideous scream she heard was enough to brighten anyone's day.

She picked herself up off the rocks where she'd been laying. With a sword shoved in her belt, a shield in her hand, and determination on her face, she was totally ready to kick some pirate butt.

But then a stampede of pirates charged across the shore below, and she realized they were coming from the direction Samheed's team had been. Lani could feel a sickening knot form in her stomach. She feared the worst. Where was he? Was he okay? Where-

She didn't give herself time to think. She ran toward his station, up the rocky bank to the trees that lined the road. She didn't remember when she started desperately calling his name, her voice filled with anxiety and fear. Her legs burned. She kept running, her throat becoming choked up with built up tears. "Samheed!"

Out of nowhere, a body dropped out of a tree next to Lani. She jumped and whipped around, digging her hand in her component vest and searching for the nearest deadly component to attack. And then she saw his face. She dropped her hands to her sides and gave him a look. Even so, she couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped her lips.

"Hi," Samheed whispered. "Are they gone?"

She nodded and flashed him a grin from ear to ear, happy to know she hadn't found him in worse cases. Her heart was hammering fast and the panic was still driving her brain crazy. He wasn't dead or taken by the pirates, she told herself over and over. But even with him standing right next to her, the feeling didn't go away.

As they discussed what had happened, the rest of his team (including some of her own) headed for the mansion to intercept more pirates. Things were improving. Most of the warriors in their teams had survived. Then a critical moment happened, Lani's mistake when she was too caught up in her relief and eagerness to hang around Samheed. He walked a few ahead on the way to the mansion, going faster than she was.

She didn't see the brute who couldn't be anything but a pirate sneaking up from behind them. It was strange he had kept so quiet, judging by the injuries he had all over him. It was also strange he wasn't with his army, but it wasn't uncommon for the injured to be left behind and assumed of as dead.

Before she caught sight of the man, Lani was yanked from behind. She made a strangled noise in surprise as large hands hoisted her up and dragged her through the rocky terrain. She tried to scream out for help, but everything was happening so fast. Her attacker's hand was so large that when it clasped over her mouth, it covered her nose too. She could hardly breathe.

Mentally, she smacked herself in the forehead. She hadn't even heard him following them! She squirmed, screamed, and kicked her feet, but it did no help. Her body was almost completely covered by the pirate's arms wrapped around her in the death grip. She yelped in pain as he squeezed the hand over her mouth far too hard, and in response she bit the man's fingers. According to biting Henry multiple times she had sharp teeth, but not according to her kidnapper. The man didn't even notice and hustled down towards the shore past the trees and rocks, half-carrying her as if she was as light as a one-pound weight.

"Come on," the pirate growled. _Like I can move when I'm being DRAGGED ACROSS THE GROUND_ , Lani thought.

She fought harder when she felt her boots meet the sand. Worry filled her now more than ever. She was going to the enemy ships.

She gasped from the sudden pain shooting from her waist and spreading all around her body. She was all too aware that her arms were pinned to her sides, and she couldn't reach for her spell components to fight back. She tried to breathe in fresh air through the man's fingers, but his stench was too strong. His tightening grip around her waist made everything even more painful, and she soon felt too exhausted to fight back. Her vision began to blur from lack of oxygen.

Suddenly, she was tumbling across the beach, skidding and rolling next to the water. She coughed violently and gasped for air, blinking in the broad sunlight that shined down on her. Once she regained the ability to breathe properly again, she rose shakily to her feet and swayed. Pain shot through her body as she did so, but that wasn't her main concern anymore.

Lani's throat constricted as as her brain supplied all the words she wanted to yell, but her voice became lost, stripped away as she tried to understand what she was seeing in front of her.

Samheed was just laying there, his breathing shallow as he stared up into the sunny blue sky. He looked almost peaceful if it wasn't for the bloody gash in his chest quickly spreading and darkening.

Her kidnapper was standing above him, breathing heavily with his sword withdrawn. The shock and satisfaction was evident on his face. There was blood all over his sword.

Lani stared in horror, realizing that Samheed must've run after her when he saw she was missing. He'd somehow tackled the huge pirate, freeing her but wounding himself in the process.

A wave of emotions passed through her. Shock. Confusion. Fear. Dread. Anxiety. And finally...anger.

For a moment, she didn't know how to move, or say anything. She could hardly even tremble, though her rage was so great that it was a wonder she didn't smolder and ignite where she stood. Although she remained perfectly still, the killing was evident in her eyes. Anger boiled through her veins. Her fists curled into balls. She scowled and took a step forward towards the pirate. Then another. And another. He no longer threatened her.

The pirate held his sword towards her and laughed unpleasantly. He looked at her as if he didn't believe she was capable of fighting him. "You think you can kill me as easy as I killed your friend, little girl? Go ahead and try."

She was infuriated by his smug, patronizing tone. That was _it_. Lani lifted the first component she could find and shouted the lethal words with no mercy. _"Die a thousand deaths!"_

She arched her sore arm back and threw. She watched as it flew into a perfect spiral, hitting it's mark directly in the face. He didn't have time to cry out or dodge the attack. The brute crumbled into a heap at the shoreline, dead.

All anger rushed out of Lani, replaced with apprehension. She hurried to Samheed's side and slid down to her knees in the sand.

"Oh no. Sam," she mumbled frantically, taking in all the blood covering his chest. She didn't think she could get him back to the mansion in time. She took a frantic glance around the beach, but there was no one in sight that could help. Any thought that came into her head was useless. Each one of them unable to help more than the last. She dug into her component vest but only found a various number of components that could only be used for fighting. No healing equipment.

She reached over and squeezed his hand very hard like the way she used to do back when they were stuck in the dark cave at Warbler. Her hands were sweaty and shaky, and she tried to ignore how cold his felt when intertwined with her's.

"Sam," she whispered fearfully again. "Please, talk to me. Say anything."

"Anything," Samheed rasped out. It looked like it almost pained him to speak or move, but he managed that same mischievous smile he wore so often. She let a small, choked laugh out. Even on death's door he was trying to make her laugh.

Lani stared into his orange eyes, disheartened by how faded they'd become. Even though all the people from Warbler had those eyes, they could never compare to his. He looked back at her, the fear and concern written in his eyes. He opened his mouth with a bit of difficulty. "Are you okay?"

She couldn't believe him. He was about to die and he was more concerned about her safety. "I'm fine. You aren't. We need to get you out of here! C'mon, just stand up. Maybe I can drag you back to the mansion-"

Samheed cut her off. "No. Lani, I don't think I'll make it..."

She sucked in a breath. " _No._ You're not dying on me. You aren't..."

She trailed off, disbelief in her voice. He really wasn't going to make it.

A hot tear fell across her cheek. "Samheed Burkesh," she whispered, anger seeping into her voice. "If you die, I'm going to kill you. You are such a-a" She struggled to find the right word and gave up at the task altogether. "I wasn't born with enough middle fingers to let you know how I feel about you!"

He managed to roll his eyes. "Good to know you feel that way."

Lani wasn't done talking. "Why did you fight that pirate? Why did you get yourself hurt? You idiot! I don't need your help in battle! You know that!"

"I was protecting you!" he yelled. That was a complete mistake. He winced in pain."You were going to be captured and most likely killed by that man!"

"So what?" Lani shot, glaring daggers at him. "You'd be okay! You wouldn't be-like this..."

A sob erupted from her chest. All the annoyance left Samheed's face as he stared at her in grief and pity, as if recognizing his fate. He squeezed her hand with as much force as he could, making her shudder and weep harder. She scooted closer to him and gently brushed his dark hair with her free hand. His eyes never left her's.

She needed to talk to him. To tell him things that hadn't been told. That's what people did when someone was dying, right? Tell them all their feelings in short notice? This was her last shot, and she wasn't prepared for it.

"When I first met you," she said through her tears. "Y-you thought I was stupid. And annoying. And young...and not capable of much."

The dying boy shook his head. He didn't think those things of her anymore.

Lani gave him a little smile and moved her hand to stroke the side of his face, something she'd never done before. "B-but, Warbler happened. I changed. You did too. That whole month of being stuck in that terrible place, I started to rely on you more than I've ever relied on myself in the fifteen years I've been alive. And I still rely on you."

She took a shaky breath and continued. "I've never told you this, but I knew you were afraid I'd run back to Alex."

Samheed's lips parted in surprise, and he looked down in shame. Lani shook her head. "Don't hate yourself for thinking that. If I was you-I'd be thinking the same thing. But you have to know, S-Samheed, you mean the world to me. I thought about what would happen after Warbler with me and Alex for a split second, but that was it. Our feelings were never strong enough to last. I realized I only thought of him as a friend. I realized who I cared about more than anyone else: you."

His glazed eyes drifted up towards her again, and she saw tears forming in them. Every time he spoke, it took more effort. She was surprised he wasn't fading as fast as most people when they were dying. "I...didn't know..."

She moved their locked hands so they hovered over his chest and sniffled. "I don't want to be alone," she whimpered quietly. "I don't want someone who will die for me. I don't want you to leave me. Please don't. Please don't leave me."

Samheed smiled a small, half smile. They both remembered having this same exchange in the dark cave. "I could...never...leave you."

Lani chest racked with another sob, her heart breaking. She wasn't smiling. She wasn't laughing. She didn't know if she'd be happy again. She tilted her head down, her jet-black hair falling forward and covering one side of her face. "Sometimes I f-feel like I'm not capable of anything. I'm not capable of saving others." Bitterness seeped into her words. "I should be the one dying, not you. Never you."

He shook his head ever so slightly and weakly lifted his free hand to her chin. She was terrified to see how much his arm was shaking. "Never say that. Lani...you mean more to me than...anyone I have ever...known. I don't know what you see in the mirror, but...you...know what I...see?"

He coughed up some blood, pain showing through on his face. He was fading more every second. "I see the...bravest...smartest...most beautiful girl...who has a heart ten times bigger...than mine. I see...a girl who works hard...and is driven to...always do better. Being...around you...makes me a better person. I'm not as...mean and rude as I used to be. And you know...what that means?"

He lifted her chin up ever so slightly so she'd be forced to look into his eyes again. She wasn't sure if her face was burning from crying so much or from all the things he'd just told her. All those words they never told each other but we're finally telling them now. And it was too late to go further with them. She noticed tears had escaped from his eyes.

She'd never seen him cry.

"What?" she asked.

"It takes...a lot for someone like me...to be...redeemed for all I've done. And you...you were the one...that made it possible."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but his face had become very pale and his eyes more glazed than ever. He was hardly focusing on her anymore. The hand that had been resting on her chin fell to the ground, and he took a ragged breath. Every time he opened and closed his eyes, Lani was afraid he might close them forever. Her vision blurred with tears.

"This isn't how it's supposed to end!" she cried, her voice rising shrilly. "You were supposed to get it through your thick head that I've fallen in love with you! You were supposed to realize how perfect we are for each other! You were supposed to ask me out on our first date and and I'd be crazy nervous but we'd have so much fun it wouldn't matter! You were supposed to be my first kiss-a-and you do it out of nowhere and we'd be as terrified about the whole experience as I am right now!"

She squeezed his hand as tight as she could, letting out all her frustration. "I can't live without you! I can't loose another friend! No-screw that, you're a million times more than a friend. You're my-you're my-s-soulmate."

The word rang out. She shut her mouth. The sound of the waves lapping over the shore filled her ears, and she closed her eyes. And there it was. Everything building up inside her had found it's way out. Very weakly, Samheed slid his hand from her's and placed his fingers over her palm. She reopened her eyes and worried her bottom lip as she watched him, tears freely streaking her dirty face. His eyes met her's for one last time with an intensity she'd never seen, and he gave her a weak smile. Slowly, he tapped into her open hand right before his body went slack.

 _I love you like crazy._

Lani's red-rimmed eyes widened, and she had nothing left to do but break down. "YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME!" she screamed, furiously wiping away her tears. "I HATE HOW HEROIC YOU ARE! I HATE YOU! I HATE THIS! FIRST MY M-MOM-THEN MEGHAN-N-NOW YOU!" She punched him hard in the chest. Then again. And again. She couldn't count how many times she did that before she forced herself to stop. She leaned all the way down towards him, not caring that his blood was staining her shirt. Her throat felt raw and dry from screaming. She ignored the aching in her body. Lani placed her hands on either side of his still-warm face and let her forehead rest against his. She inhaled choked breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. Her tears rained down on his face.

After a while, she lifted her head, her heart doing all kinds of rocketing moves at how close she was to him. She took a quick glance down at his lips, and suddenly couldn't take her eyes off them. Of course this was the one time she was ready to kiss him. What a joke...

She knew who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but how could she when her other half was dead?

Lani swallowed hard as she stared down at his unmoving body in disbelief. "Sam, wake up," she pleaded. She grabbed him by his shirt collar and shook him. "God, you d-don't know h-how much I want to k-kill you right now. C'mon! I-it isn't hard to open your eyes, at least. I love seeing your eyes. Wake up! Please. I love y-you. S-Sam...I love you. Kiss me."

She leaned down. She didn't want her first kiss to be like this. She'd imagined it millions of times. At first with Alex-but that was only because she was crushing on him a few years ago. This was real. She'd never loved anyone (besides her family) as much as she loved Samheed Burkesh.

She pressed her lips against his and began to hyperventilate at the first touch of them. They felt warm. Kissing him felt like magic, but she knew she couldn't have it. She was kissing a boy who was minutes-maybe even seconds from death. She could still feel his heart beating, ever so faintly. A feeling so powerful ran through her body she had to pull away. Longing, sadness, and love filled in the cracks of her broken heart.

Sitting there quietly, gazing down at the incredibly loyal, stupid, sarcastic boy she loved, a million thoughts ran through her head. Suddenly, a wild thought entered her head, and she came up with a solution that might work if she tried hard enough.

She moved her trembling hands down to either side of his shoulders. She sniffled and blinked any remaining tears away. She needed to be focused for a spell like this. When she was ready, she envisioned the hospital ward. Not just that, but an empty bed where he could be easily tended to. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, pouring all her concentration and devotion into one simple word. "Transport."

In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Lani staggered backward into the sand. She took a moment to look at herself. There was blood covering her clothes and sand in her hair. With some difficulty and newfound hope, she stood, her knees wobbling. She walked to the edge of the water and ignored the dead pirate a few feet away, dipping her hands in and washing her dirty face with saltwater. She did a quick wash with the rest of her body, wiping the dirt, mud, and blood off her jeans and shirt. After washing out her hair, she readjusted the sword in her belt and ran to Artime, her heart pounding a mile a minute.

Would he be alive or dead when she got back?

She scrambled up the rocky hill next to the beach, ran past the trees, and reached Quill in record time. She ducked past a group of pirates, almost got stabbed by another, and was chased by three for a solid five minutes. Her legs burned and she felt on the verge of collapsing, but she didn't stop. She zig-zagged around each building and ended up doubling back a few times to knock the pirates off her trail. When she was sure they weren't following her anymore, she headed for Artime as fast as her feet would carry her and was greeted by even more fighting.

She threw some heart-attacks or scatterclips at every pirate she came across, doing her best to help her fellow Artimeans out. She spotted Sky and Kaylee on both sides of the front door and finally reached the entrance to the mansion. She didn't know what expression was on her face, but she assumed it wasn't good. The two girls looked at her with concern.

"Lani! Are you okay? What happened?" Sky demanded.

"I have to go," Lani said quickly, panting heavily. She walked past them before they could ask her more and opened the door. She was awestruck and horrified to see how destroyed everything was. Chunks of the walls were missing. Some of the furniture was in pieces. Blood and debris were all over the ground.

She walked as fast as she could to the hospital ward and pushed open the door. She wasn't surprised to see a large number of people in the room. Some were unconscious. Some were getting bandaged or applying ointments on themselves. Lani was surprised to see that her brother, Henry, still wasn't back from the trip to save Karkinos. In his place, a large number of nurses were hard at work. They rushed back and forth to every patient that wasn't already being helped, quickly bringing them back to recovery.

She recognized a few of the injured Artimeans but hadn't talked to any of them. She slowly walked across the room and allowed her breathing rate to return to normal. She walked to the last bed in the room and spotted him. She covered her mouth in surprise and her heart twisted with relief.

The regular color of his skin: _Middle Eastern_ , as Kaylee called it, was back. She ran to his side and pulled up a chair, staring down at his now-bandaged chest. His shirt was rolled up above the bandage so he could roll it down when he wanted. He looked surprisingly healthy for a boy who'd almost died. There wasn't any blood staining it underneath. But how?

She unraveled his bandage and her eyes went wide when she saw there was no wound at all! The wound area looked completely normal, except for the globs of some kind of strange, sparkling ointment. She didn't question it. Lani wore a delighted grin when she felt his heart, beating much stronger than it'd been less than an hour ago. She rewrapped the cloth around his chest and startled when she felt him make a small noise.

She let out a laugh of pure joy at the sight of Samheed's eyes opening and going wide in a panic. He took in large gulps of air, staring all around him in confusion. His eyes, brighter and fuller of color than ever, rested on Lani.

"L-Lani?" he whispered, unable to comprehend what was going on. "I'm..."

"Alive," Lani finished. Tears of happiness filled her eyes as she beamed down at him. "I don't know how. I used the transport spell to send you here and by the time I got back..."

Samheed let out a small laugh in relief. As much as he tried to act tough, the suspiciously wet glint in his eyes wasn't hard to miss. "I don't believe it. How was I saved?"

She shook her head. She had no clue. Maybe it was from the combined magical ointments that took away his wound? Or maybe it was from their kiss? Red creeped up to her face. She was definitely never mentioning that to him.

She fell into the chair at his bedside. Either way, it didn't matter. He was alive. That's what was important.

The pair sat in silence, listening to the commotion going on in the room. Samheed turned his head towards her. "You look exhausted."

Lani shook her head, though it was obvious she was.

They let silence take over a moment longer, and she closed her eyes and rested her head back. Maybe she could get a short nap in.

"Lani?"

She opened one eye. "Hmm?"

"Me almost dying really puts things in perspective."

She couldn't help laughing at that. Kind of embarrassed, she wondered if he was referring to all the things she'd said. She wondered if he'd heard everything. "I bet."

A hand brushed her forehead, and she immediantely relaxed into him. She waited for him to speak, but the boy said nothing, merely continuing to stroke Lani's hair. After a while, she heard him draw a deep breath. She opened her eyes and found him staring off into space, his hand still stroking the top of her head.

"After this war," he said with a sudden confidence and determination in his voice, "I'm taking you on our very first date."

Lani nearly fell out of her chair.

 _Did he just ask her out?!_ Her eyes widened in a panic. Never had he ever asked her out! Sure, they'd had countless small moments of enjoying alone time together and pranking their friends, but never a date. The look on her face must've been so hilarious he burst out laughing. His laugh was like music to her ears. Her face turned beet red, and she tried to hide it under a curtain of her hair. Once he composed himself, he stared directly into her large sunset-colored eyes with all the seriousness he could summon. "We as well start somewhere."

She smacked him lightly in the arm and her face reddened even more. "How do you know where we'll even have it after this war?"

Samheed scrunched his brows together and stroked his non-existent beard. "That is an excellent question, Ms. Haluki."

He resumed brushing his fingers over the top of her head, an action so calming she wished he could do it forever. Her eyes scanned around the room. Every patient was asleep, and the nurses had rushed off into another room to make more ointments. Samheed had been so close to death, but he was here, alive and well, and that was a miracle.

She felt like crying all over again.

She rose from her chair. She looked at him. He looked at her. Just one glance and he seemed to know exactly what she needed. He propped himself up without too much difficulty and gently tugged her towards him. Her bottom lip quivered, and all at once, her emotions were both borderline happy and sad. Then, he did something that surprised her. He guided her into his arms and let her head rest against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her in a rare tight embrace. He'd only hugged her like this once, back on the rescue ship from Warbler. She swallowed down the emotions that threatened to spill.

"Hey, I'll have a cool scar on my chest now," Samheed whispered reassuringly (not something that was very reassuring to Lani). "That isn't the _worst_ thing to have!"

He held her an arm's length away to get a good look at her face. He pushed her hair behind her ears and she was irritated when her eyes teared up again.

Samheed cursed some word that she didn't recognize; it was a phrase that was only said in the theater. "Well, aren't we just a ray of sunshine?" His sighed as he gazed into her eyes. His face softened. "Please don't cry. I'm sorry. I messed up."

"N-no...it's fine," Lani muttered. "It's my fault."

He tightened his grip on her arms. "It isn't! Look, we survived Warbler. We survived every stupid battle so far. We don't know how long this damn war with the pirates and Warbler will go on, but I do know one thing: I used to have no one worth fighting for and-and now I have you."

"I-" Lani started to bring up the fact that he'd almost died, but she cut herself off. It wouldn't make herself feel any better. She'd do the same thing as Samheed: she'd fight for him too.

She gave him a real smile. "Thanks."

They both knew how emotional and heartbreaking the experience today had been. Both had already lost their best friend Meghan, and losing each other was like losing one half of your soul. Lani now knew what Alex meant when he felt his soul ripped in half-when Aaron was almost dead. That's the same feeling she started to get once Samheed passed away. And now that he was back, that feeling was gone.

Samheed smiled back at her. "No more worrying about me dying. We're good at fighting. We've done it for years."

"Yeah, yeah we are," Lani said softly, rolling her eyes and grinning. He was right. She looked at him curiously and her eyes flickered down to his lips automatically. A chill ran down her spine, and she remembered when she'd kissed him when he was close to death and not functioning or being aware enough to kiss her back.

"Can we try something new?" she asked, her nerves taking over. The words fell out like a wisp of air, almost so quietly she was afraid he didn't hear her. But he did.

He blinked, not fully understanding. The smile faded from his face. "What is it?"

She forced herself to lean forward, just inches from his face. Samheed was caught off guard for a moment and his eyes widened from her being such a close distance. She could practically feel the blush radiating from his cheeks. He finally looked down at her lips and looked like he was about to have a panic attack. But he wasn't the only nervous wreck.

"W-wait, are you sure?" he whispered. But the look in his eyes told her he really wanted to.

Lani almost laughed at how scared he looked. Not that she wasn't scared; she was incredibly afraid, but the fact that Samheed, of all people, would be afraid of having his first kiss blew her mind. He wasn't afraid of many things. He swallowed nervously. His orange orbs met her's and something flashed through them.

She gave him a smile. She was practically vibrating with the anticipation and thought of closing the distance between them. With as much confidence she could muster in her voice, she said, "I've never been more sure. About what I said earlier-"

Without warning, he pulled her into him, and then they were kissing.

* * *

 _You put your arms around me and_

 _I believe that it's easier for you to let me go._

 _You put your arms around me and I'm home._


	11. A Pirates Life For Me (pt 1)

The sky was cloudless and bright on the morning before everything fell apart. A carriage, led by two white horses, bustled down the countryside. The trip for the three passengers was quite an unpleasant one, as the party took nearly two hours to get to. Speaking of these passengers, they were one of the richest on Warbler Island. There were a lot of rich inhabitants on the island, since their Queen had many ships, which could be used for trade and warfare. Queen Eagala tended to hide away deep in the mountains where her kingdom was located, but that didn't mean she left her people isolated. She offered jobs for all those who were worthy, and by some miracle, the family in the carriage were the first to get them. Becoming very rich came with new opportunities, like moving into a large mansion, affording to buy maids, and getting connections with other wealthy, high social class families. Often, these connections would flourish by going to a party, or perhaps even getting married. That was the way life worked for families with importance, and Sky's family was exactly that.

Sky could never sit still on carriage rides as bumpy as these. She would've preferred walking or riding a horse, but she knew her mother would call her improper for even mentioning those things. Warbler was by far one of the most proper in all the seven islands. For someone as high social ranking as her, she was required to wear the tightest corset imaginable (apparently not being able to breathe was in fashion), knee-high frilled white stockings, black Mary Jane shoes, and a long gown with too many buttons and layers. At home when no one was around, she liked to borrow her father's old clothes just for fun. She liked when she could run around outside without having to worry whether she was being proper or not.

Today, she was dressed exceedingly nice. She wore her favorite dress, a sunset-colored one that matched the golden orange of her eyes. Her dark copper hair had been twisted up into a crown braid at the top of her head, and her mother swore it made her blond highlights stand out more than usual. Sky's mother, Copper, believed tight updos made her look more beautiful, but Sky thought it looked like a snake had woven itself in her hair. It was so tight that Sky kept pulling at it to make it looser. A large part of her wished she could've at least worn her father's boots today, but going to a huge party full of many wealthy people made her change her mind. She couldn't ruin this for her family.

Sky stared out the window, a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't a clue why they were going to this party. It was obviously for social gathering purposes, but she still didn't think she _had_ to go. What was this party for, anyway? It couldn't be for only small talk. Last time she went to a party like that, she was ten years-old and bored out of her mind. She asked her mother about it, but she refused to tell her, only giving her a smile and saying, "it's a surprise!"

Perhaps it was a birthday party they were going to? Her gaze slid to Crow, who was dressed as fancy as she was. He was best friends with a boy named Henry Haluki, but Sky had never actually seen this boy before. Crow had gone to a birthday party for him every year. Whenever Sky asked if she could come too, her brother scowled and told her she wasn't allowed. It was even stranger when she found out that Crow never told their mother about the birthday parties. It was almost like he was sneaking out off the house...almost as if he was doing something he shouldn't be.

She thought of any other possibilities. Her mother didn't have many friends that lived this far away, and nor did Sky. It was hard to make friends when you have to be so reserved all the time. She wasn't permitted to speak unless spoken to. She had some friends who were put in the same situations as her, but now that they were teenagers, they didn't have much freedom. They couldn't shout or scream in public, and they _definitely_ weren't allowed to swim in the river that Sky sometimes dared to jump in when no one was watching. She furrowed her brows. _So where were they going?_

"Sky, quit scrunching up your face like that," her mother said, snapping her out of her daze. "I'll give you wrinkles when you're my age. You do want perfect skin, don't you?"

On the seat next to Copper, Crow snickered. Sky had to try very hard to maintain her lady-like composure and not glare at him.

Sky kept her eyes on her mom. "Uh…yes. I was just…thinking."

Her mother sighed. "What? About the party?"

Sky pursed her lips. "You haven't told me yet whose party we're attending. It's been itching at me all week!"

Her mother's golden orange eyes, the same trait every Warbler native had, softened. "I know you've been waiting. It is a surprise, you know. Not even your brother knows."

Crow looked up from playing with his wooden toy, a carefully carved crab that was a gift from their father before he passed away. He had named it Karkinos. He liked to make up stories about it. He said it used to be a living crab, but after Henry fed it seaweed, it turned into wood. Sky didn't believe the weird stories he made up, even if they were just for entertainment. Crabs didn't turn into wood! "Hey, that's not fair to lie like that! I already know! The party is for-"

Instead of clamping a hand over his mouth, Copper gave him a look that silenced him before he finished his sentence. She smiled a real, genuine smile and looked at both her children. "No spoiling anything, Crow, or I'll force you to wear Sky's clothing for a week."

He shut his mouth, opened it, and shut it again. "That's ridiculous!"

Sky grinned. "Not really."

"Says you, the most ridiculous one of the family!"

"Hey! I'm still smarter than you!"

"Shut up!"

"No, you-"

Their carriage came to an abrupt halt, and someone threw open the door in a matter of moments. Everyone quickly straightened their posture and politely smiled at their coachman. "Copper, Sky, and Crow. We've arrived at the party."

One by one, they exited the carriage in orderly fashion. Sky smoothed down the front of her dress and caught sight of a marvelous house, which was about half the size of her's. They walked around the side of the estate and down a polished, pearly white set of steps. They entered a huge garden maze to see a crowd of people that had to be about a hundred. It was unlike any party the small family had ever been to. Everyone was clad in fancy attire, some even fancier than Sky's. Everyone her age or older was dancing or talking in polite, quiet tones. The children who were closer to Crow's age were free to run through the maze or play games. There was food and drinks being served at various buffet tables. In the middle of the party was an extravagant water fountain, shaped like a winged cheetah in flight. Connected to the path leading to the fountain was a beautiful gazebo.

Sky swallowed hard. She didn't recognize anyone. "Mother, will you tell me now? Why are we here?"

Her mother sighed. "Fine. I suppose I can tell you this. We're meeting the Stowe family today."

She frowned. That didn't ring a bell. "Who? Why is it this important we meet them?"

Copper shushed her daughter and laced her arm with her's and Crow's. "Shall we? Let's not keep any people waiting."

They entered the party in regal fashion, walking through the crowd and saying hello to people Sky had never met before. They smiled at her, staring at her longer than she would've liked. She wondered if it was her hairstyle. Maybe it really had made her look prettier like her mother said it did.

A pale, brown-haired man who looked about Copper's age walked up to them. "Hello. You must be Copper."

Their mother released her grip from Sky's and Crow's arms and smiled. "I am. And you must be William Stowe." She extended her hand and the man kissed it. Crow gagged.

"Yes," the man said once he'd pulled away. He looked at Sky and Crow. "Ah, and these must be your children."

He stared straight into Sky's eyes, causing her heartbeat to speed up. Something about his eyes made him look practically emotionless. He nodded in approval at her appearance. "Quite a beautiful young lady your daughter has grown up to be. What's her name, again?"

"Sky," her mother replied.

"Lovely name," Mr. Stowe said. He glanced at all of them again and gave them an almost timid smile. "Come along, Sky. I'll introduce you to my sons." He cleared his throat and his face turned paler than it already was. He made a gesture for her to start walking with him. "I mean…son."

Sky frowned and exchanged a look with Crow. Who in their right mind would believe they had two sons when they only had one?

Copper placed a hand in-between her shoulder blades and firmly pushed her forward. "Go on," she whispered. "Make a good impression."

Sky started forward and straightened her posture as she fell in step with Mr. Stowe. She clasped her sweaty hands together and planted a small smile on her face. She wasn't used to this many people staring at her and commenting "what a lovely young lady she turned out to be." These were all strangers. She felt odd.

It didn't take long to find Mr. Stowe's son. It wasn't hard to pick him out of the crowd. He was wearing the wealthiest, most tight-fitting clothes Sky had ever seen on a boy her age. He had wavy brown hair cropped close to his head. He was talking with a group of people with impressive charisma and confidence. Sky caught the words "negotiate" and "money." Just hearing those two words made her bored.

Mr. Stowe made a loud sound from the back of his throat. The group turned and all smiled. The boy whipped around. His eyes narrowed. "Father, I was in the middle of entertaining our guests! Don't interrupt me like that! Why didn't you wait until-"

He stopped midsentence. His dark eyes fell on Sky and his mouth dropped open. He didn't seem to have the ability to speak anymore. She studied the boy. He seemed a little too arrogant and looked incredibly silly in his ill-fitting clothes. She awkwardly looked away when he wouldn't stop staring.

"Aaron," said Mr. Stowe. "This is Sky, the girl I told you about. She just arrived with her family and I thought I'd properly introduce you two."

The boy, Aaron, shook himself out of his daze and managed to look at his father. He nodded and looked his eyes back on Sky. "Hello. I'm Aaron."

"Sky," she said in her naturally low, hoarse voice, another trait that natives from Warbler had. "Pleasure to meet you."

She forced herself to lift her hand and extend it to him like she'd seen her mother do thousands of times. A chill ran down her spine when he took her hand in his and kissed it. Something told her he wanted to kiss something else that _wasn't_ her hand. She shivered again. The fact that he wouldn't stop staring at her made her uneasy.

"Alright, well, how about you two get acquainted? I'll be with my wife if anyone needs me," Mr. Stowe said, briskly walking away.

Everyone dispersed into different groups to talk, leaving Sky and Aaron alone. Sky cleared her throat and slid up beside him. "You know what would be nice? A long walk in the garden maze you have. I'd like to um…exercise my legs after two hours of being in a carriage."

Aaron nodded stiffly, his head jerking so awkwardly that Sky had to hold her laughter in. "Yes, that must've been exhausting. Shall we?"

He held his hand out to her, and she took it. It felt cold and strange, and found herself hoping she didn't have to hold it all day. She kept her emotions locked deep inside, something she'd always been good at. She could remain calm and collected for at least a few hours, right?

Of course she could. It's what Sky did best.

* * *

"Ow, you're stepping on my feet!"

"Sorry!" Aaron squeaked, his voice rising a few octaves. "I've never had much practice with dancing. Especially not with, uh, girls."

 _More like beautiful girls_ , Sky thought. He was obviously crushing hard on her, but she wasn't having any of it.

The walk through the maze had been longer than she expected. They talked for a while. Their conversations mostly consisted about family and life in general. Aaron was studying to be a Governor. His father was a highly wealthy merchant and his mother owned a tavern. He was also a public speaker, and he enjoyed giving political speeches in front of crowds. He liked talking about himself, but he liked learning about Sky even more. Even if she was simply commenting on the weather, he would still stare at her like a lost puppy.

After walking, they journeyed back to the party to see everyone out on the dance floor. So that's where they were now, stuck on the dance floor. Not that Sky didn't like dancing. She loved it. But something about dancing with Aaron and having to avoid being stepped on wasn't a good mix. She yelped a fifth time when he brought his boot down on her toes.

Aaron frowned. "I'm not very good at dancing, as you can see."

Sky laughed softly. "That's okay. I'm not either."

He adjusted his hand on her waist tighter, making it even harder to breathe than it was with the tight corset on. She ignored the pain and sucked in slow breaths. They spun around the courtyard, causing Sky's head to spin from lack of oxygen. She trained her eyes to the ground and took gulps of air.

"I have a question for you," she heard Aaron say.

She met his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Alright. What is it?"

If it was possible, his face turned redder than it'd been all day. "Why are your eyes orange?"

She frowned. "Hm. I-well, I'm not positive. I heard that when any person is born in Warbler, they are required to have these acid eye drops put in their eyes. I hardly remember it, though. Do you think that would hurt? Acid eye drops?"

Aaron shrugged. "Who cares? I won't be getting any eye color change anytime soon, so I have nothing to worry about. Unlike you. "

Sky bit back a sarcastic retort. She heard her mother's voice in her head, telling her to remain calm. So she did. "Okay. I have a question for you, now."

"Yes?"

"Why is it that…" she struggled to think of the right wording. "Why is it that when your father said he'd introduce you to me, he said _sons_ instead of son?"

Aaron's gaze hardened, his bad attitude showing through again. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She studied him, noticing the way his jaw was clenched and his eyes were haunted. His grip on her hand tightened to a death grip. She didn't try to pull away. "I think you do, Aaron. You can trust me. I'm not going to tell."

He bit his lip and took a sudden interest in the grass. They stopped dancing. When he spoke this time, his voice was filled with bitterness and hatred. "I had a twin brother, once. He's…he's not…"

Sky felt sympathetic towards him. She knew how hard it was a loose someone. She'd lost her father when she was young. While their mother had sat in her room for months, staring at the wall, Sky and Crow sought comfort in each other. They always had. She could tell Aaron didn't have anyone like that, judging from his cold demeanor toward his parents. She rubbed his shoulder and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry."

He stared at the grass for a while, not responding. They stood like that for a long time, Sky awaiting his response with a feeling of slight awkwardness. When he finally looked up, he seemed different, colder and more distant than before. He wasn't looking at her, but somewhere far away on the horizon, deep in thought.

"Don't be," he said quietly, a sharp edge to his voice.

His eyes slid back to her, filled with understanding, and his face softened. He could tell she understood, too. For a moment, Sky didn't see the bratty, annoying boy she was forced to hang out with. She didn't see the rude, intensely confident boy she met a few hours ago. She saw the shell of a young boy deep inside his eyes who'd been broken many times before."Don't be."

Suddenly, they started dancing again, and the spell broke. Aaron Stowe returned to his usual self, never to mention his twin brother again.

* * *

Sky was glad when the dance was finally over. She purposely lost Aaron in the crowd and hung out with Crow, who she found playing hide and seek with a group of kids in the maze. She joined them. It was the perfect game to play at a huge maze like this. It was a billion times more fun than talking with Aaron for hours upon hours. She needed a break from society for at least ten minutes.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" Sky called. "Ready or not, here I-"

"Sky!" her mother shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"

She turned around slowly and crossed her arms. "We were just playing-"

"Playing is for _children_ , not sixteen year-olds!" Copper scolded furiously.

"But Crow is playing too!" she cried.

" _Crow_ is a few years younger than you. He is a _boy."_

That hit her like a ton of bricks. She wanted to scream. She couldn't believe any of this. Girls had to be proper, polite, and quiet. They couldn't play games or run around like boys could. She was required to follow a ton of rules and stay within her social class. It was insane. All because she was a _girl._

Her mother sighed when she saw the look on Sky's face. She took a step closer and held her hands. "I'm sorry, but we really need to go. You see, you're needed at the party right away."

"Why?" she asked.

Her mother smiled tightly. "How about you see for yourself?"

Sky's mind began to race. Was this what her mother said the surprise was? She felt a tinge of excitement. She hoped this would be a really nice surprise. Today had been boring enough. She and her mother rushed out of the maze, picking up Crow and the children hiding along the way. As they went through the clearing, she stopped dead in her tracks. Every single person at the party was staring straight at her. Her heart hammered in her chest and she sent a panicked look at her mother, who only nodded. Sky looked around at the many faces and walked forward into the crowd. She searched the crowd. She didn't know why they were all looking at her.

And then she saw him.

Standing in the gazebo, the center of attention was Aaron. He was long expectantly at her, as if to say, "come here." She took a deep breath and slowly walked up the path to the gazebo. Her body shook with nerves. So _this_ was what her mother was excited about. She knew exactly what was going to happen.

She averted her eyes from the crowd and forced herself to look at Aaron. His expression was devoid of emotion, but his eyes were completely entranced. He sunk to one knee.

 _REMAIN CALM, REMAIN CALM, REMAIN CALM!_ Sky's voice chanted in her head. But she could hardly remain calm now. Her breathing was becoming shallow. She thought breathing was difficult enough with the corset before, but now it was impossible. She tried to think logically. It wasn't working.

"Sky," Aaron breathed. He took both her hands in his. They were as sweaty and uncomfortable as hers were.

"A-Aaron?" Sky replied, wincing at her stutter. She _never_ stuttered.

"Sky," he repeated. "Will you…"

He glanced off into the crowd and looked at his parents. They nodded in approval. He turned back to Sky. "Will you marry me?"

She stared at him like he was crazy. Her world tumbled down before her. So many thoughts were running through her head, and she felt dizzy. She wanted to throw up. She couldn't breathe. Her cheeks were burning like a wildfire, spreading to her entire body. Her ears were ringing, the most important question she'd ever have to answer repeating over and over in her head. She didn't feel any emotion towards Aaron…maybe only a bit of sympathy and annoyance. She didn't love him, that was for sure. But if she said no, she'd be letting her family down. She would be shunned for turning down the marriage proposal of one of the wealthiest boy's her age. She had to do it. She had to say yes. But she couldn't. She couldn't make herself. If she agreed, she wouldn't be happy. Sure, she'd have money, but she believed there was so much more to life than being a reserved, proper, and married lady. She clenched her teeth and struggled to take a breath. "I-I…"

She looked back at the crowd and saw her family amongst them, staring in anticipation. Her mother stared at her pleadingly, expecting that she say yes.

"Well," she said slowly. She met Aaron's eyes again. His face was hopeful, which made her feel even worse. "Everyone expects me to. A-and…you're very charming and wealthy, and you're training to be a Governor. "

Aaron smiled smugly at hearing these things. _God_ , Sky thought. _He really is self-centered._

She let go of his hands and took a step away. "This…this is all happening so quickly."

She took another step away. She didn't dare look at her mother. She couldn't. "I…"

She took a few short breaths of oxygen to clear her foggy head. "I...um…"

She looked back at Aaron, a deep frown on his face. He didn't look happy. She didn't care about anyone's happiness right now. All she cared about was getting herself out of there. She took a step away from Aaron, then another, and another. She got a grip on her brain for a second and choked out on sentence. "I need a moment."

And then she ran blindly into the maze.

She slid down again a bush, tears forming in her eyes. She was happy when no one followed her. Nobody could see her like this. A tear slipped from her eye. She never cried. She rubbed her eyes and tried forcing herself to calm down. She couldn't believe Aaron had just asked for her hand in marriage. She couldn't believe any of this. Why had her mother kept it a secret that she was going to get married? At least she could've been prepared for it!

Fear and confusion turned to anger and embarrassment. She curled up into a ball and screamed into her lap until she was hoarse. She _hated_ this. She couldn't go back out there. She didn't want to face the decision a second time.

Sky wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, her head buried in her knees. It could've been for an hour or a year. But when she looked up, it was to the sound of a _BOOM!_ shaking the ground. In the distance, somewhere far away, screams rang out. Her eyes widened.

"Oh no," she whispered.

The island was under attack.

She shakily stood up and heard another booming noise. Fire and smoke lit up the night sky. She ran through the maze, but she had no idea how to get back. Every turn seemed to be a dead end. The hedges were so tall she couldn't see above them. And then, a cannonball sailed through the air, whistling towards her. She didn't scream. She just ran the opposite way-the way she was sure she'd entered from. Another cannonball hit somewhere near her, toppling over a hedge. She stopped, and then a plan formed in her head. She could get out by going over the fallen hedge! A whistling sound that was far too loud got even louder. She sprinted for the only way out, but she didn't make it. A cannonball grazed the side of her leg as she was running and landed right next to her. She shrieked as a horrific pain filled her leg and her body went flying from the impact of the cannonball hitting the earth. She landed hard in the dirt and grunted at the sudden pain. She laid on the ground for a few minutes, taking in heaving gulps of air.

She started to feel overheated. Sweat stained her forehead and heat burned on her neck. She began to cough, but she figured it was only from her tight clothing. Her hair began to come loose from the tight braided updo, and now had many curls hanging out. But it wasn't just that. Her hair started to feel frizzy, and it only felt like that when it was…

Horrified, she turned around. Someone had set the garden maze on fire.

That was enough to make her run again. She got to her feet and tried to ignore the blazing pain in her legs and heat of the fire. She ran faster than she ever had before, out of the garden maze and into the chaos. There were only the sounds of screaming and yelling. The entire town was set on fire and covered in smoke. People ran in a flurry of panic. Sky couldn't tell who was who.

"Mother!" she cried, rushing through the burning streets. Everywhere, she saw people getting killed, kidnapped, or stolen from. She sucked in a breath at the sight of the attackers, all clad in leather and wielding swords or guns. She narrowed her eyes. _Pirates._

She continued running, somehow avoiding getting killed or hurt. The world was a clanging of weapons and smoke. "Crow!" she screamed.

"Mother!" she shouted again. She limped down the cobblestone streets, searching wildly for her family. Any thoughts of the proposal flew from her head. She shrieked as someone grabbed her from behind, demanding she hand over money. A million thoughts went through her head. What could she do? She never learned anything helpful like this because no one has ever expected it to be helpful! But this was real. She felt a bang of fear inside her stomach.

Sky acted on impulse. She got a firm grim on the pirate's arm and twisted it as hard as she could. He grunted in pain and released his grip on her. She whipped around and gave him a face. "Sorry."

She brought back her foot and kicked him as hard as she could in the privates. He screamed in agony and clutched his crotch, crumpling to the floor. Sky didn't take a second to praise herself. She continued down until she was near the docks, half-limping and half-sprinting.

"Sky!" she heard a voice call. She whipped around in the direction of the voice, straining to see who it was through the craziness. And when she did, it was too late. It was Crow and her mother, locked in a cage. They were in a rowboat being taken to a pirate ship. Her mother looked like she was unconscious, and Crow was still screaming her name.

Sky ran to them, her clothes stained with dirt and her hair a mess. Tears streaming freely down her face, she screamed their names in heartbroken agony. "CROW! MOTHER!"

She desperately ran to them, but once she'd reached the waters edge, she remembered she didn't know how to swim. She screamed their names again but it was hopeless.

Suddenly, a dirty hand covered her mouth and another grabbed her from behind. She screamed in alarm, but they were muffled. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She tried to pry the hands off of her. They only held her tighter. All the oxygen sucked out of her lungs. She couldn't take another breath without wheezing. She wriggled as more hands grabbed her, and she felt a hot breath against her ear. It was a boy's voice. "You're coming with us."

Then there was a flaring pain in the back of her head, and blackness creeped into her eyesight. Pain exploded through her body. Shouting and screaming rang through her ears. She managed to catch one glimpse of her attacker before her vision, along with the rest of her, went slack.

This boy looked exactly like Aaron.


	12. A Pirates Life For Me (pt 2)

The feeling of the world swaying beneath her. And blackness.

That was what Sky woke up to the first time around. She could hardly keep her eyes open, struggling to stay conscious. She could hardly feel herself, just the movement of her body as it swayed with the world. She struggled to make a sound, her lips her so chapped and her face felt so numb. Her eyes drifted open fully, blinking in the darkness. She felt someone's hair tickle her face and a hand touch her forehead, and a strange creaking noise from above.

"She's-" a voice started to say, but Sky was yanked from the world again and sank through a plummet of dreams and despair, filled with screams she wanted to forget and faces she couldn't place. The only thing she knew was they were calling her name, over and over like a wave endlessly touching the shore.

"Sky!" a frantic voice screamed.

Sky blinked. She was standing on the shore of a burning town, chaos around her. Behind her was the nonstop clashing of swords hitting bodies. She heard someone scream her name again, their voice hoarse. As she turned, her body felt like it was on fire. A stinging pain pounded in her leg but she did her best to ignore it. That voice seemed so important, more important than anything.

"Sky!" a boy's voice called. She peered into the dark water, lit up by the light of the fire. She could hardly make out their faces, but there they were. Her mother and Crow, sailing away with a band of pirates.

"Not this again," Sky muttered weakly. She ran to them, every step feeling like she was walking on lava. Wrenching hot sparks burst from the ocean's edge, showering her. Not only was the town on fire, but so was the water, it seemed.

"Hold on!" Sky yelled across the burning flames, the heat only getting more intense with every second. She couldn't tell if they heard her or not.

She ran to the waters edge and jumped. Without warning, her two foot jump turned into a plunge from a high cliff to the treacherous water, flaming wreckage raining down with her. Despite the panic, she could see her mother and Crow's little boat from where she was falling. But of course, dreams never went how you expected. She heard an explosion, the sound of the town exploding in one big _"boom!"_ Pieces of some things too gross to imagine blasted in every direction, a large chunk of _something_ hitting Sky at full force. She was lifted from her free fall and was soon propelling across the ocean, out of control.

She couldn't see anything. She heard nothing but the roaring wind and horrific screams all around her. She heard her mother and Crow screaming in pain, the sound flooding her ears until it was all she heard. She spun in the air, got hit on the head with something hard, and hit the flame-filled water with a crash that should've fractured her skull.

The last thing she remembered was sinking in a burning sea, knowing her family was gone forever, and wishing she would just drown already.

* * *

"Look-I told you! She's starting to wake up!"

"What should I say? It has to sound like I'm intimidating."

"Act natural! Whatever. Hurry up."

"Okay, okay."

Sky struggled to open her eyes. They felt heavy and syrupy, but when they finally fluttered open, she was met with two blurred figures in her face. The blurriness soon sharpened, forming the face of an olive-skinned girl sitting cross-legged on Sky's cot. She looked nothing like the girls Sky had grown up with. If any civilized person had seen the girl, he or she most certainly would've let out a gasp of disapproval. Her clothes had a thin layer of dust on them, and her skin was flawed with cuts and scrapes. There was no tight-fitting dress of any kind on her. Instead, she sported a loose white blouse, trousers, and tall boots. Her dark hair wasn't brushed nor pulled into an elegant hair style. In fact, it looked like she hadn't taken it out of it's braid for weeks. Next to her...

Her eyes shot fully open, and the pain hit her like bullets as she did so. She grunted but could hardly speak through her chapped lips and dry mouth.

The very familiar-looking boy next to the girl shoved a mug of water in her face. He held it up to her lips. "Here. You want water?"

Sky had no idea what was going on. Millions of thoughts ran through her head, making it hard to remember anything. Why was he so familiar? Where was she? What was going on?

She tried to move her hands to get the water, but everything felt weak. She narrowed her eyes as the boy tilted the cup into her mouth without warning. Just as water passed her lips, a incredulous thought made its way into her tangled head. No...no way. Aaron! The boy was-

She sputtered, and the contents went flying at the boy. His expression turned to one of pure disgust as he wiped the spit and water off his face. "Whoa! What was THAT for?!"

The girl burst out laughing in such an unladylike manner that Sky jumped. She was shaking so hard she was afraid the girl was having a seizure. Her eyes darted from the girl to the boy. The boy who looked exactly like Aaron, except with...different features. No, it couldn't be Aaron. This boy had longer hair, tousled and unbrushed. His eyes held no secrets full of despair. His light skin was tanned by the sun, his hands and bare feet were darkened with dirt. The way he held himself wasn't stiff, but filled with a different kind of confidence. Lastly, although the sensible part in the back of her brain refused to admit it, he was undeniably attractive.

She looked from the girl to the boy, utterly lost, angry, and growing more terrified by the second. The questions shot out like wildfire. "Who are you? Why am I here? Are you pirates? Do you plan to kill me? Do you-"

"Hold up, princess," the boy interrupted, setting the cup on the floor next to the cot she was laying on. "Let's start with the introductions. Hi. I'm Alex, and this is Lani. Welcome to the Artime, the most unwanted ship and crew of the high seas."

Sky glared. So they were pirates.

She pushed herself up with her hands, her body shaking from the effort. Her head pounded, her skin itched and her leg burned. Oh, god. She didn't dare look at what she assumed was a nasty burn on her leg. That wasn't the biggest concern for now.

"Oh, come off it! I'm not a princess, Alex. Or should I say...Aaron."

Lani cast a significant look at Alex, who knew _exactly_ what Sky was talking about, and whose face abruptly tightened. Alex sighed. "I knew you'd mention my evil twin brother. Quite convenient I picked you up, eh? Saved you from marrying that brat."

Sky's head swam. Alex was Aaron's twin brother? But hadn't Aaron said that he had a brother once who had passed away? Did he not know Alex was a pirate? Why on earth would Alex want to prevent Aaron from marrying her?

With a shiver, Sky was again painfully aware how alike Alex and Aaron looked. Nearly identical. "I demand you let me off this ship."

"No."

She forgot all proper manners as she fumed in disbelief. Though she tried to sound forceful and poised, her voice was quavering. "Excuse me? Was it you who ruined the party? I was nearly ready to be married! Was it you who launched fireballs on my island? You captured people-my mother-and Crow, my brother!"

When they said nothing, only exchanging a look with each other, Sky gritted her teeth. "What could you possibly want with me?"

Alex stood up, followed by Lani who walked out the door. "Look, I'll put it simple for you: I'm not the bad guy. I don't capture anyone."

"Except me?"

The boy stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes locked with hers. Sky shot daggers at him, her heart constricting in pain at the memory that her beloved family was suffering somewhere.

Slowly, he leaned forward and bent down, his hands on his knees. "Enjoy your trip, Warbler girl."

Her heart pounded out of her chest at the close proximity. She hated how attracted she was to him. Her insides screamed when his eyes bore into hers, like pools of brown she could stare into forever. She wondered how everything went down with him and Aaron. How had everything come to be?

"Sky," she said.

He blinked, his confident facade crumbling for a moment. "What?"

"My name is Sky," she said, feeling satisfaction at having caught him at guard.

Alex straightened and gave her a grin that she didn't return. "Well, Sky, I hope you like living in what us pirates call...the unwanted life."

He left her there, closing the cell door behind him. His footsteps echoed as he walked away. Sky's heart couldn't have been beating faster. Her face felt hot from embarrassment.

The girl crumbled, blinking back her sudden tears. She had millions of questions, none that she could answer. She looked down at herself. She had been stripped down to her undergarments, which proved a relief and slight embarrassment. On her leg was a bloodstained bandage. When she reached up, she felt her hair was out of its updo and flowing freely down her back, not something she minded. She stared blankly around the small, very dark room and sighed, curling up against the cold dungeon floor.

Sky listened to the waves below and was half amazed, half terrified how drastically her life had changed in a day. She couldn't believe the horrifying turn of events. How was she ever to get off this ship?

All she could do was think of home and wonder-if Alex and his crew hadn't captured her mother and Crow-then who?

Her mind drifted to Aaron. Maybe Alex had been doing her a favor after all. She never wanted to marry the stuck-up boy who bragged far too much about himself. Maybe this was a chance for her to decide things...for herself. Even if it meant being held prisoner on a pirate ship.

She didn't know how long she sat there thinking until light poured from an opening outside her cell. A person came down the ladder, this time a different girl. Her messy red hair flowed freely, tumbling past her shoulders. She wore a vest and blouse similar to what Lani was wearing, along with a pair of trousers and boots. She was holding a plate a food, and the contents looked awfully appealing.

"Hello. You must be the famous Sky," she said.

"That's me," Sky uttered, slightly taken aback at the girl's nicer attitude compared to Alex. She propped herself up as the girl walked in her cell and set the food down.

Sky took it, giving the girl a suspicious look. The girl must've caught her gaze, because she smiled. "I didn't do anything to it, if that's what you're worried about. We may be pirates, but we're not barbarians."

Sky was hungry and she couldn't deny it. Hesitantly, she grabbed the food and began to eat. It was only chunks of bread and vegetables, not the fancy gourmet cooking she was used to, but it'd have to do.

The girl stood there, not saying anything until she was done.

"I have many questions," Sky said, wiping her mouth. She already felt the energy returning to her body, making her feel a bit better. "Where are we going?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that."

She let out a pained sigh. "I need to know. I need to get out of here and find my family. They were kidnapped!"

The girl gave her a sympathetic look. "I heard from Alex, and I'm sorry. Who captured your mother and brother? My guess would be Captain Baldhead, practically the ruler of the seas. He has a dangerous reputation for a pirate."

That didn't make Sky feel any better. The name didn't ring a bell. "Is there a way to get them back?"

The girl spoke softly, never raising her voice above a normal-speaking tone. "I wish I could say I knew."

"But you're a pirate," Sky pressed. "Surely you could do something."

"Just because we're pirates doesn't mean we're invincible," the girl said, releasing a quiet breath she seemed to have been holding. "Now, get some sleep. It's been a full day since we brought you here, but your wounds look pretty bad."

"Thank you," Sky whispered in the dark. "What's your name?"

"Meghan," the girl replied with a yawn. She went to the ladder and began climbing up to the deck. Sky had a yearning feeling to follow her to the world above the dungeon. "Good night, Sky,"

"Good night," Sky replied.

A sheepish smile tugged at her lips, and Sky wondered if she'd made a friend in this desolated place. Maybe an acquaintance, if nothing else. The smile quickly faded, though, and her worries pressed her. She wondered if anyone knew or even cared she was missing. Even if they did, no one would knew where she was. An involuntary shudder wracked her body. Her body shook. Closing her bloodshot eyes, Sky laid back down on her cot. She let the rock of the ship comfort her, a reminiscent of the way her mother used to when she was little.

She fought the strong urge to weep right then and there. Curling her hands through her hair, she wished for better days to come. Her heart plummeted straight through the floor.

"Oh, mother. What I'd do to hear on of your lectures right about now..."

* * *

First it was a few hours, then a few days, then a week. For a week she sat in the tiny cell, mostly sleeping or sometimes talking to Meghan, as she was the only one who came down. The seventh morning of her stay brought new hopes and a cool, soft breeze streaming from the hatch where the ladder was thrown down every so often. Someone had left a fresh pair of clothes that looked suspiciously like Alex's, but the captive girl was quick to change into them. It beat wearing the unwashed undergarments she'd been wearing the whole time. She was never allowed to wear anything outside of a dress, so everything felt a bit weird and inappropriate wearing pants.

On the deck above, as Sky heard the bustling and stomping of feet, she once more wished to journey up to the world above. The dungeons _were_ clean, but they were empty, and after the days of sitting helplessly, she was ready for some kind of entertainment. It was relieving (and irritating) when finally, before noon, the captain came downstairs with a plate of food.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Sky replied, gesturing to her cot made of straw and bits of cloth.

Alex only laughed, making her frown. He handed the plate to Sky, which she accepted apprehensively. "I get it. You're used to the rich life. Huge mansions, not a speck of dust on your carpets, and beds that feel like clouds."

Sky didn't know how to reply without agreeing. "W-well-"

He laughed again. "That's what I thought. Don't take everything for granted, you know?"

She thought of her mother and Crow. No, it wasn't her taking her old things for granted. It was her taking her family for granted, and that messed everything up. If her family was at least with her now, things wouldn't be half as bad. "Why did you want to keep me from marrying Aaron? He thinks that you're dead!"

Alex only shook his head, his hair swaying as he did so. The smile faded from his face and his eyebrows furrowed as he spoke. "You have no _idea_ what kind of monster you were about to marry. My brother? I know that even a girl like you wouldn't want to marry him. Have you ever thought that maybe the reason he thinks I'm dead is because I made him think it?"

Silence seeped in, an obvious tension between the two. Sky stared at the cracks in the floorboards. "I am only here..."

She met his eyes and stared him down, wishing she could obliterate him where he stood. "Because _you_ captured me. And even if it _wasn't_ you, somebody captured my family too. Meghan said that if someone captured them, it would be Captain Baldhead. You know him?"

From the darkened look on the captains face, he did. "Names are dangerous, and you shouldn't mention his so freely."

"Answer my question!" Sky demanded in a sharp tone she would've been scolded severely for.

He blew out a breath. "I'm the _captain._ I don't _need_ to answer a _prisoner_ if I don't want!" He paused and let out another breath. "But yes, I know him. We aren't on the best of terms, let's just say that."

"So are you going to let me out?"

"I never said that."

"It's not _all_ that bad here, is it?" Alex inquired. "Or would you rather sleep in the boiling room?"

She went silent and swallowed the lump down that was forming in her throat. "I don't believe this! If you were a good pirate, you'd let me escape to go save my family."

"Right," Alex said. "And then they'd arrange you right away to marry my idiot brother."

He opened and closed jail cell, locking it behind him. He climbed up the ladder and opened the hatch, rare sunlight shining down on the dimly-lit dungeon. Sky was in no hurry to try and escape. Standing up and walking around was not an option with her still-injured leg.

Before going up, he turned to her, a mischievous smile on his face that made Sky's heart pound all over again. "You're wrong. If I were a good pirate, I'd let you walk off the plank before sailing to Captain Baldhead's territory. It'd mean honor enough if you died that way."

" _How dare-_ "

But her accusations were cut off by the hatch closing and the light disappearing. She sat in the dark, picking at her food. That boy made her feel _so..._ the words wouldn't describe the rocketing somersaults she felt in her stomach. He had captured her, yet completely allured her, and she didn't want to know why. It scared her to no end. She'd never felt so...enlightened, and she'd only just met him a few days ago. What was _wrong_ with her? How could she get out of this mess?

All she knew was Captain Baldhead had her mother and Crow, and she was going to save them.


	13. A Hogwarts AU!

The sun was nowhere to be found on the ceiling of the Great Hall, which was just as fine since it was nighttime. The sun is reserved for the day, when the world is bright and new with possibilities.

Lani Haluki read a lot about the sun, the stars, and the moon. One day, the sun will die peacefully, eventually cooling off the burning heat it radiates. It won't be exciting, nor would she be alive to witness it. It's death will be slow, not effecting much of the world on planet Earth. No end of the world, no doomsday, no mass destruction. Just the sun and it's slow descent. Like all things, it must die eventually.

Despite the many times she's tried, Lani was never able to count every star, collect every constellation, or capture the vividness of the night sky she saw before her. Everything was real and beautiful, even more so than the outside one.

Every night, she silently thanks the thoughtful wizard who captured the sky and placed it in the Great Hall. Here is where she came nearly every night, just to let herself wash in the pure calmness of it all. Lani found that nighttime was one of her favorite times of all, because no matter what, she knew the stars were there to look down on her, twinkling with purpose. The stars were what led millions of people to their destiny, telling them where they needed to go.

That's what she liked about stars. They showed her the way. The way? She wasn't completely sure where that would be, or when, but she knew she'd find the way sometime.

After a while, she slid off the table, grabbed the blanket she'd been lying on, and exited the Great Hall. Although she always had one of the biggest descents up the stairs, it was never too much a burden to her. She enjoyed looking or sometimes conversing with the paintings on her way to her common room.

A little exhausted by the time she reached her destination, the girl was met with a bronze knocker shaped like an eagle. It's sharp gaze fixed on her's. It had always intimidated her.

"You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, But the future can never taint me. What am I?" the eagle said in a voice that showed high intellect.

Lani blinked, trying to will herself to think. Riddles weren't always her strongest suite, but she usually managed to score the right answer.

"History," she finally said.

The eagle said nothing as the door opened wide, allowing her entrance to Ravenclaw tower. Lani rushed up the stairs, silencing her feet with a charm spell so her footsteps wouldn't catch any unwanted attention. When she reached the top, she was greeted with the endless rows of books, couches, and the smell of parchment. She continued up the next set of stairs that led her to her dormitory, which she shared with five other girls.

They were all asleep, so she entered quietly, willing the door not to creak. She was already in her pajamas, so she slipped into bed, pulling the covers over her.

"Goodnight, you dolt," she whispered to her small barn owl, who she'd named Dolt, after her favorite word.

Sleep and dreams of the ocean and the stars came quicker than she expected.

* * *

A ways away from the Ravenclaw tower, the Gryffindor tower was abuzz that morning. Groups of friends trickled down the the Great Hall for breakfast. As for Alex Stowe, he was still upright in bed, loosely sketching the star map for Astronomy class. He'd meant to earlier, but it was easy to forget homework when the night before was brutally exhausting. Just coming back from detention in the Forbidden Forest, he was a little frazzled.

Fortunately, he managed to hold it together on his walk through the dark forest, where the trees seemed to close in on him and the sounds were a billion times louder. Along with him, a young Hufflepuff and Slytherin were present, shaking like leaves. It wasn't as hard to be brave when it came to protecting other people.

This morning, however, Alex would pay the consequences. He was fighting the temptation to lay his head down, knowing that he might doze off and end up missing two of his classes. He forced his eyes open wider, pressing his quill harder into the parchment as he drew.

The task took a lot longer than he'd hoped. Could he still make it to breakfast?

"Let's find out," Alex muttered, jumping out of bed and throwing on his robes, not bothering to put on his tie properly or tuck in his shirt. He raced out of the boy's dormitory and nearly banged into Sean Ranger, the brother of his best friend Meghan.

Sean was the head boy of Gryffindor house. A witty and productive boy in his 7th year, he always kept the younger students in order. Also meaning, he often reminded Alex what to do and enforced the school policy when he was doing something wrong.

"What's the big rush, Stowe? Your room exploded again?" he asked, looking amused.

Alex released a breathless laugh, running a hand through his messy hair. "I didn't have time to do my Astronomy homework last night. You know how long that takes. Plus, I'm going to miss breakfast."

Sean rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face. He tapped his wrist. "Tick tock. You better get there, then. First class starts in twenty minutes."

"Right," Alex replied. He exited the common room, yelling goodbye to Sean. It didn't take long to reach the Great Hall when you took the stairs two at a time. He pushed open the large wooden doors and was met with the echoes of hundreds of conversation filling the room with a dull roar. He squared his shoulders as he made his way over to the Gryffindor table. Breathless, he took a seat next to Kaylee, a girl who'd transferred to his school that year.

Kaylee had grown up in America, in a place called Massachusetts. She was also a muggleborn, so the wizarding world took her some getting used to. She spent her first three years of school at IIvermorny, a wizarding school for American wizards and witches. Alex didn't know much about it, but what he did know what IIvermorny had four houses, alike to the ones at Hogwarts. They were Thunderbird, Horned Serpent, Wampus, and Pudwudgie. Kaylee explained the first day she arrived that Thunderbird represents the soul, Horned Serpent represents the mind, Wampus the body and Pudwudgie the heart.

Kaylee was a Thunderbird, which Alex assumed was a lot like Gryffindor. After all, she was sorted into Gryffindor the second the hat touched her head.

"How was detention?" she asked once he began to fill his plate with pancakes and rolls.

"Not so different from my other detentions," Alex said, pouring maple syrup on his pancakes. He proceeded to dish out butter and smother in all over his bread. "The forbidden forest isn't so bad if you aren't scared. You're only there for an hour and with a tour guide the whole time."

Kaylee nodded and took a bite of toast. "Better than cleaning trophies or stamping letters?"

He laughed. "Way better. But of course you wouldn't know, since 'miss America' has never been in trouble."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "I've been in trouble a few times. Ya know, the usual, like walking around at night."

Alex pointed his fork at her. "That was my first offense. First year, eleven years old."

Kaylee laughed lightly and said nothing after that. They ate the rest of their meal in silence.

"Alex!" a voice called from down the table. "Did you practice for the Transfiguration exam?"

He leaned forward and saw Colleen Waters, a girl who ought to have been in Ravenclaw for the brains she had. Her twin brother, Gavin, had been put in Hufflepuff, which completely devastated her at first. Alex could relate to this, since his own twin brother was put in a different house. She confided in him, and the two had been friends ever since. She was always scoring high points, and often helped Alex with his transfiguration skills.

"Yeah, surprisingly!" Alex yelled back, earning a laugh from the Gryffindors around them.

He took a moment to glance around the Great Hall, looking at all the houses seated. Ravenclaw was quieter than the Gryffindor's, seemingly more tired. Alex recognized a lot of his acquaintances there, but none he'd gotten to know very well.

Beyond that was the Hufflepuff table. He spotted Meghan from the glint her red hair gave and smiled. She was his first friend at Hogwarts. She was always surrounded by a group of friends from her music group.

Last, the Slytherin table. Almost all houses alike, mainly Gryffindors had a long history of hating the Slytherins. Mainly because many villainous people had come out of that house. That house just happened to be his brother's house. Aaron's house.

Alex spotted his twin sitting at the edge of the table. He was eating quietly, but it wasn't unlike him to be quiet. He normally didn't talk to Aaron unless he was forced to, since his brother seemed to avoid him so much. He hoped one day they would be good friends like Colleen and her brother were, but that wouldn't happen for a long time.

He scanned the table until his eyes met Samheed Burkesh's. Samheed and Alex used to have a rocky relationship, showing an intense dislike for each other. A fist fight and walk in the Forbidden Forest later, the two bonded and became close friends. Samheed was generally rude and sarcastic, but Alex didn't mind that much anymore.

He raised his dark eyebrows, a smile on his face as he drank a goblet of milk. Alex only grinned in response.

Once breakfast was over, he and Kaylee stood from their seat and walked out of the Great Hall, side by side. "Ready for some Charms?"

Kaylee flashed him a grin, her eyes crinkling with joy as she did so. "Totally."

* * *

"What would you say if we were able to switch houses?" asked Logan Ridell, a boy in his second year.

Samheed scanned his schedule twice, checking over it to make sure he didn't forget. Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaw, Astronomy and History of Magic with Hufflepuff, and -he winced- Herbology and Potions with Gryffindor. He didn't hate the Gryffindors as much of his fellow Slytherins did, but part of him despised them. His father had a long history of rivalries with Gryffindors, so classes with them were always excruciating.

Well, usually. He often sat with his best friend, Alex Stowe. Alex was a Gryffindor, and the perfect definition of one. Recklessness and danger followed him everywhere.

But his thoughts, along with those of his peers were cut off by Logan's question.

"Oh, so you think Slytherin isn't good enough for you?" sneered Will Blair, the head of Slytherin house.

Logan bit his lip. "Not that. A Ravenclaw girl was thinking about it, and I thought it was an interesting idea."

"Then the hat sorted you wrong?" Samheed inquired a bit too loudly. All eyes in the common room snapped to him.

In the corner, Aaron was silently picking up his books, preparing for his first class. He carefully walked to the door, looking as though he was trying not to draw attention to himself.

"Too bad!" Will snapped, his eyes like slits. "You're in Slytherin, so you better start acting like it!"

Logan said nothing, looking ashamed. Samheed noticed he'd always had a very hard time fitting in Slytherin.

Will turned to Aaron, catching his arm before he left the common room. "What do you think, Aaron? Do you think any of us should be in different houses?"

Aaron sucked in a breath, eyes darting around the room, unsure what to say. He straightened his already-perfect posture. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes flitted to Logan, who was trying not to turn red. "Well, no. Anyone who is in this house needs to accept that. Or they ought to never call themselves a Slytherin."

Will, followed by the rest of the common room, cheered and made hissing noises. He looked at Logan. "See? No one wants to change houses."

Logan's lower lip trembled, but he nodded and proceeded to his first class, his head down. Samheed grabbed his books and headed after the young boy, shaking his head at his fellow Slytherins.

"Hey," Samheed said, catching up to him. "We've got two classes with each house. The Slytherin aren't so bad once you get to know them. We're just prideful of our house."

Logan nodded, but didn't say anything. Samheed fell back uncomfortably and was enveloped by the few friends he'd come to trust in Slytherin.

"Maybe he doesn't belong in Slytherin," said Rodrick, one of his friends.

Samheed glanced at him, frowning a little. "Whatever. He's in Slytherin now, and it's not like he can change houses."

First was Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. Since inter-house pairings weren't always enforced, he took a seat next to Rodrick as they began the lesson. Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of Samheed's favorite classes. He loved the thrill of it all.

Their teacher, Professor Florence, was seated at her desk, writing some notes with her quill. She was the tallest teacher in the school, nearly towering over even the tallest 7th years. Some said she was half-statue, but no one could ever know for sure.

When she was finished she stood up and addressed the class. There was a gleam in her eyes. "Today, we'll be working on some counter-jinxes. None that was be particularly hurtful."

Her smiled widened and she added, "Depending on how well you take pain."

The class chuckled, the Ravenclaws more nervous than the Slytherins. Professor Florence scanned the room of fourth years, searching for a victim to go first. Samheed hoped he would have to go first. That required casting a jinx that might be horribly wrong and damage his reputa-

"Mr. Burkesh!" she said, crossing her arms. "Will you take the challenge of the heart attack jinx?"

He couldn't say no. He stood up and glared as the Slytherins hooted and chanted his name. He walked to the front of the class and stood next to the professor, taking his wand out of his pocket.

Professor Florence now walked around the Ravenclaws, some worried and others eager to be picked. Finally, she landed on a girl seated in the back. "How about you, Ms. Haluki?"

Lani blinked out of her daze and looked like she was trying hard not to blush. She stood up, took out her wand and strode next to Samheed.

He'd seen her numerous times in his class and around school, but had never truly looked at her. She had a strangely delicate, smaller form. Her long, jet-black hair was as flowy and graceful as her movements, and contrasted perfectly with her olive skin. Her eyes were like the ocean, blue yet somehow entrancing, reminding him of the last time he visited the sea. Unlike the other Ravenclaws, she was utterly calm now.

Professor Florence withdrew her wand, demonstrating for the class what to do. "Point your wand at your opponent, like so, and say 'heart attack!'"

The two faced each other, each a bit nervous about jinxing the other. Samheed forced himself to push aside his emotions, pointing his wand directly at her.

"On the count of three, you'll release the spell," said the professor. "One, two, three!"

Each spoke the words lightning fast, but Samheed's spell struck her first. He watched in growing horror as the girl tumbled to the floor, gasping and holding her chest. Those in the front leaned foreword, and those who couldn't see ran to observe the cursed girl.

Lani's face was constricted with pain, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She made small inaudible noises as the heart attack hex continued to pound her. Samheed and Professor Florence rushed at her side, the professor more panicked than he'd ever seen her.

The professor murmured a spell to release her, and soon the girl stopped moving, her eyes closed as she breathed slowly. The class gathered around her, all asking questions. Samheed felt his face burning. He wondered if the spell would've been less painful if it was cast on him. He could've killed Lani, and it was all his fault.

It took a few minutes to revive her, but once they did, she sat up, her breathing returning to normal. She looked at Samheed with a bewildered expression and breathed one word. "Wow."

"Is that normal?" asked a Ravenclaw student, pushing up his glasses.

Professor Florence wasn't looking at any of the students. "This spell isn't something to try on other students, do you hear me?"

The shocked students only nodded in response.

"Good."

The bell rang, and everyone ran to get their belongings for the next class. Samheed spotted Lani walking out the door, hugging her books to her chest. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

She turned around, meeting his eyes. "It was only practice."

She and the other Ravenclaws walked to their next class, leaving the stunned Slytherin boy in the dust.

 _It was only practice._ The words echoed in Samheed's head throughout the next classes of that day. Yes, it was practice, but it was practice that could've killed her.

What he didn't notice was Aaron Stowe sitting in the corner, taking vividly-detailed notes about the heart attack jinx.

* * *

Astronomy class required observing the night sky once per week, from atop the Astronomy Tower. For Gryffindor and Ravenclaw fourth-years, it was every Friday at midnight. Professor Lhasa paced behind the students, checking their star charts as she drew her cloak tighter around herself. She was a middle-aged women with hair that shone like silver and eyes that were always lost in thought.

"Now pair together with a member of the different house. Compare your star charts and correct each other's mistakes by the information you've gathered over our past lessons," said Professor Lhasa in her breathy voice.

Alex, who'd been partners with Kaylee, looked over at the Ravenclaws in their class. His eyes fell on Lani Haluki, a girl who didn't talk much (but then again, he'd only talked to her a few times). Her gaze met his, and in a silent agreement Alex walked over to her.

He placed his star chart next to the telescope on the table and peered over at her's. They looked similar, but her's had a lot more detail on it.

"How does mine look?" he asked, breaking the silence. His fingers twitched nervously as he reached for his quill.

"Good..." Lani trailed off, leaning down and pressing her quill against his paper. "A few of your constellations are missing."

She filled in where they were supposed to go and looked back and forth from her's to his. She tapped her finger against one of the stars Alex had drawn. "And this? Isn't a star. That's a planet."

"Oh," Alex said, flushing red. He felt less intelligent just from being around her.

As if sensing his thoughts, Lani straightened, looked at him and smiled. Up close, her eyes were big and blue, and for a moment Alex wondered how much time and detail it would take to capture the color. "Nearly exactly like mine, other than that."

He let out a breath, stuffing his hands deep into his trouser pockets. He smiled back. "Okay. Thanks."

She placed her eye against the telescope and adjusted it with ease. It seemed to be something she'd done many times before, as proof from her star chart.

"You seem like you like Astronomy," Alex said, a little quieter so Professor Lhasa wouldn't hear.

She continued to look into the telescope. "I do. I enjoy looking at the stars, mostly. The Great Hall is full of them at night."

He nodded, although he realized he had never bothered to look up at the ever-changing sky in the Great Hall. Maybe that was what separated Ravenclaw apart from the other houses. They paid more attention to everything they could not reach.

A hard, cold wind blew through the tower, causing the students to shudder. Alex's robes threatened to blow away if not for his strong hold on it. It wasn't uncommon for the Astronomy tower to be this cold.

By a miracle, the professor clapped her hands, calling the students to her. "That's enough for tonight. To bed, students!"

The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws trickled out and down the long stairway. Kaylee ran to catch up with Alex, who walked with Lani on their descent downstairs. The Ravenclaw girl rolled up her star chart and the Gryffindor friends did the same.

"Where are you from, Kaylee?" Lani asked, looking at the taller girl. "I mean, your accent..."

Kaylee gave her a smile, as she always got this question, but liked getting it nonetheless. "America. I used to go to Ilvermorny, a wizarding school there."

"I've heard of that," Lani murmured, keeping her eyes glued to the stairs in case she drastically fell off (it used to happen all the time). "It has four houses, similar to Hogwarts?"

The American girl nodded. "Thunderbird, Horned Serpent, Pudwudgie and Wampus. They don't have exactly the same qualities as Hogwarts houses do. Thunderbird represents the soul, Horned Serpent represents the mind, Pudwudgie represents the heart, and Wampus represents the body."

"I wonder what Ilvermorny house my brother would be in..." Alex said aloud, meant for only himself. Lani and Kaylee looked over with slight concern, as nearly everyone knew who the Stowe twins were and their dynamics.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the three stayed there, for some reason reluctant to go to their common rooms yet.

Kaylee combed her fingers through her hair absentmindedly, her eyes trailing the numerous grand staircases. She looked back at Lani and Alex. "Are you tired?"

An all-too-familiar mischievous glint twinkled in Alex's eyes. "Not a bit."

Lani looked back and forth from the two and noticed the look in his eyes. She shook her head, her smooth black hair exaggerating her movements. "I've never been caught at night, but I heard being with a Gryffindor heightens my chances of getting detention."

"That makes two of us," Kaylee told her. "I've never gotten detention either."

The two looked at Alex, waiting for a response, one expression baleful and the other curious.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"I'm in," Kaylee responded. They looked at Lani, who's face flushed.

"I...think I'll go to the Great Hall. I like to stop there every night and look at the sky."

"What about some adventure?" Alex said, stepping closer to her. "You can see the stars any night."

Kaylee nodded, looking at her friend pointedly. "True. You get to hang out with us!"

After some coaxing and much complaint, Lani finally agreed to embark on whatever "mission" they were going on. "So, where are we going?"

The three pushed open the double doors leading outside and were greeted by the coldness of the air. They walked to the Quidditch pitch where Alex practiced his broom flying when he wasn't with his team.

The Gryffindor boy took out his wand and pointed, saying "Accio, broom!"

In a whizzing sound, a broom sailed towards Alex's outstretched hand from the locker room. He flashed the girls a grin. "All we're doing is flying around. I need some practice for my game next Monday, anyway."

Kaylee and Lani borrowed brooms from the cupboard in the locker room and joined Alex on the field. The girls didn't know much about flying, but Kaylee figured it was similar so surfing, so compared it with that.

The three mounted their brooms and rose up from the ground, Lani with more difficulty than the others because of her lack of skill. With a bit of coaching from Alex, they were soon soaring along the grounds, Lani too afraid to fly any higher than the treetops.

Feeling the wind blowing through her hair and in her face, Lani felt a feeling of freedom and purpose. Maybe it was a good idea to break the rules a little. She felt as though she could be anything, do anything, even take on the world. The sky was her limit.

Speaking of the sky, she turned her head to it, gasping at the sight of the moon, the REAL moon, shining down on her. The sky was cloudless and filled with stars, making her wonder if the Great Hall wasn't the only place for stargazing after all.

After a while, Alex swooped down and touched the ground with ease, followed by Kaylee who did it with no problem. Lani tried to follow their example but couldn't seem to get the right landing. She panicked as the ground rose to meet her and desperately tried to do anything to make the contraption stop. She landed hard in the grass, rolling over and over until she stopped.

Alex and Kaylee were laughing and clapping, celebrating in her defeat.

"Bravo!" Kaylee said, grinning widely.

Alex helped her stand and picked up her broomstick, which had been only slightly damaged in the crash.

Lani blew her hair out of her face and couldn't help but laugh at her ridiculous attempt. The bruises all over her body were really going to hurt tomorrow, but somehow, that didn't bother her.

Bruises felt better with friends, even the rule-breaking ones.


	14. A Pirates Life For Me (pt 3)

Hello my wonderful readers! I hope I haven't been taking too long to update. I know I procrastinate _a lot,_ so hopefully I'll manage my updating skills. So here is the 3rd chapter for my pirate AU! I decided I'll continue it as a solo story, since I want to write the entire thing, so I posted a separate story called "A Pirates Life For Me." This will be my last time posting the pirate AU on this story, so if you want to follow along, go check out my other story. In the meantime, I'll try to get around to your requests from a few months ago, and I'm also going to write a solo story for the Hogwarts AU. Please give me feedback, review, favorite, and follow! I love to hear how you guys are enjoying my story, and it encourages me to write more. Don't be afraid to request if you want a specific story written. Ask and you will receive!

Without further ado, here is the 3rd chapter of my pirate AU. I hope you enjoy reading it, and once again if you want to continue the adventure, I posted a separate story where I'll be posting the whole thing. Also if you want a specific ship/event/thing to happen, please feel free to comment in the reviews. Thank you for reading!

[requests are highly encouraged!]

* * *

As night spread over the _Artime_ , the clouds grew thicker, waters grew choppier, and crew grew on-edge. Waves began to tumble onto the ship, leaving no choice but for the crew to stand on guard on the deck. A violent wind kicked in, making it intensely difficult to steer. Rain splattered everyones faces, at first steady but now a downpour. Thunder echoed across the open ocean and lightning threatened to obliterate the ship.

Captain Alexander Stowe was at the wheel, twisting and turning it this why and then at a desperate attempt to pull them out of the storm. There was nothing, nothing worse than being caught in a storm like this, which unfortunately was what the crew got caught in dozens of times.

Thoughts danced beneath the seventeen-year old boy's temples as he tightened his grip on the wheel, watching his crew run about. From all his years of experience, he knew the storm was much closer to a hurricane than the norm. With his luck, it wouldn't be a sea monster.

Everyone was drenched to the bone, the freezing rain nearly cold enough to freeze everyone's brain cells. Henry and Samheed began climbing the sails to tighten their knots. Suddenly, the ship lurched to the side. Freezing water poured in, and everyone slipped on their feet.

Out of the depths of the ocean rose a giant eel, its teeth barred and eyes set on only one thing. It pulled back and struck at the lower end of the ship, catching the attention of the fallen crew. Everything erupted into chaos. People ran left and right, either at an attempt to kill the eel or fix the broken parts of the ship.

Cursing, Alex rose to his feet, whipping out his sword. Looking a short distance away, he shouted to Thatcher, "Take the wheel!"

As he raced onto the deck, Yazmin, Thatcher's sister, and Carina approached him, her hand resting on her dagger. "What should we do, Captain?"

"There's only only thing we can do," Alex yelled over the wind. "Get rid of that blasted eel!"

He raced to Lani, who he found muttering to herself, looking for the right way to knock out the sea monster. Those fighting were either being thrown to the other end of the boat or nearly eaten. Battle fervor creeped through Alex's veins and tightened his chest. His set his jaw and squared his shoulders, turning to look at his fierce friend and battle-companion. "Ready?"

She nodded, tightening her grip on her long dagger. "Let's do this."

With two simultaneous cries, they dove forward into the fight, ducking low, swinging high, jabbing this way and that at the gigantic eel. It dodged only some of their attacks and reared back, hissing. It opened its mouth wide and dove for the two, who jumped apart at the last second. The eel drew back and lashed at them again and again, dodging their attacks at a faster pace. Alex did not know how long they'd been fighting when two others joined them, Sean and Meghan, firing at the monster with their pistols.

The eel closed in to the middle of the ship, whipping its tail around the deck and causing many of its victims to loose their footing. From the ropes, Samheed and Henry held on with weapons drawn, swiping their swords this way and that when the eel drew near.

"This is certainly an unconventional way to spent my evening," said Alex to Lani. He had just enough time to catch her breathless laugh before he was forced to jump over the sweeping tail of the eel.

Lani was too late. The impact of it's hit and the force of the wind caused her slip and fall overboard. She was lost to the treacherous sea, but there was no time to rescue her. The fight continued on.

Many went belowdecks to fire cannonballs at the eel, but it was in vain. The monster was too fast and slippery.

Samheed jumped from the ropes to join them. He swing his sword alongside Alex, blocking a blow from the eel's tail. He jumped and stabbed at it's tail again, cleanly slicing off the end of it.

"Nice one," Alex told him as the eel flinched and made a low growling noise.

Samheed flashed a grin and raised his sword again. "Are you surprised? I'm not the only good swordsman on this ship."

"You're right," Alex said with a laugh. "The other would be that cabin boy, Cole Wickett."

As the eel focused in again on the three attacking it head-on, Alex barely managed to block a blow aimed for him and spun to slam his blade through the eel's neck. Surprisingly, the blade went straight through, causing the eel to wail in a dreadfully loud roar. Half covering her ears, Meghan fired bullet after bullet until finally, the sea monster could take no more. It dove forward in one last attempt but found itself with one of Carina's daggers embedded in it's throat.

Helplessly biting at it and gurgling, the eel toppled into the sea, defeated.

With it's defeat, the storm began to clear. The wind died down, and the waves no longer rocked the ship. Samheed ran over to the edge, calling Lani's name. The girl was struggling to keep afloat, her legs kicking but getting her nowhere. He threw down a rope that she barely managed to take hold of and began to pull. Sean and Meghan ran over to help, and soon the girl tumbled back onto the deck, trying to catch her breath and ringing out her hair.

Silence pervaded the ship after that. Alex took deep breaths and stared at the destruction done to the ship. The crows nest was cracked and broken. There was a gash in the one of the sails. Debris littered the deck, making it hard to tell what was broken and what wasn't. The ship creaked and groaned for a whole different reason.

From belowdecks, Scarlet emerged, her hair soaking wet and sticking to her shirt. She was one of the youngest in the crew, having just been recruited a few months ago at the age of fourteen. Her face was stern and hard. "Captain! There's a leak belowdecks. It hasn't reached the cabins yet, since it's only on the bottom level."

Alex grimaced, using a hand to wipe the wet hair out of his face. "Tell the others to patch it up. We'll have to dock somewhere and get the ship repaired."

She nodded and ran down again.

"Everyone on deck who isn't helping patch the leak," Alex ordered. "Clean the debris instead. We need to get this ship to a port!"

"Yes, Captain!" came the many replies as the small group of remaining crew members began to clean the deck.

A thought struck Alex, so fearful and sudden his heart nearly stopped. He raced belowdecks, taking in the water pooling at everyone's feet. "Are the dungeons flooded too?"

"Why, _yes_ ," Cole responded as if it was obvious. "Everything at the lowest level is completely flooded, so we-"

Alex didn't hear much after that as he sprinted back up the stairs and raced to the hatch that led to the dungeons, his heart pounding. Water had risen nearly to the top, emerging the entire dungeon in water. Cursing numerous times, he struggled to open the hatch. After five times, he yanked it open and was greeted by rushing water.

His mind a blur of pure panic that he didn't understand, his thoughts were only on the prisoner from Warbler.

 _Sky._

Having no time to loose, he threw his belt and sword aside and dove into the water. Down here, it was already above his head, meaning Sky could likely be dead. He refused to believe that and swam through the dungeons until he stopped at her cage. Her unconscious form floated aimlessly through the water, her hair covering most of her face.

He hurriedly unlocked and opened the cell, kicking his legs with all his might. He caught Sky around the waist and pulled her out of the cell, swimming for the hatch. Resting his feet on the top of the latter, he adjusted his grip and pushed her onto the deck, where various crew members began reviving her.

The captain jumped out himself and closed the hatch behind him, panting hard.

Henry, the best medic on board, was currently doing CPR. Lani, Meghan, Samheed, Sean, and Thatcher surrounded her, staring with growing worry. The rest of the crew emerged from fixing the whole, soundlessly walking over to the unconscious girl. Curiosity was on all of their faces, as majority had never seen the captive girl.

Henry's frown deepened and he sat back, staring at Sky.

"Why did you stop?" Samheed asked in a slightly demanding tone.

Instead of looking at him, Henry looked at Alex. His face was one of mass confusion. "It's not working."

Alex stared at the younger boy, unable to breathe. Questions pelted Henry, but he stuck with the same answer, his eyes beginning to water. "It's not working, it's not working! I don't know!"

Lani rubbed his shoulder and leaned in close to him. "Shh. It's okay, it's okay."

The young boy looked at his sister, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. He blinked furiously, and one fell across his cheek. "No it's not!"

Alex suspected the reason for the boy's sadness was not about being unable to save Sky, but being unable to rescue anyone in general. _When you were a medic, it was your job to save everyone,_ he realized.

"It's alright," he told Henry, keeping his shaking voice steady. "Is she breathing? That's what matters."

The younger boy bent down to Sky's mouth, listening for a few seconds. The crew was quiet, waiting for a response. When he rose back up, his eyes were more panicked than before. "I-no."

The captain grunted and moved to Sky's side. "Let me try."

The others moved aside to give Alex space. The boy sighed, crouching low over his prisoner. He began the same attempts Henry had, pumping hard on her chest. His eyes rose to her face, where her lids were shut and unopening. Her eyes had represented a never-ending sunset, one that he could never get bored of. Her exotic, intoxicatingly beautiful face seemed to almost draw him in.

His breath caught and he made his decision, unknowing tears filling up in his eyes. His emotions poured out for Sky, although he hadn't an idea why. Why should he care for this girl? Why should he care she was going to marry Aaron? She was his prisoner. She was only here so he could get back at Aaron for the unspeakable things he's done.

"C'mon Sky, wake up, you daft girl," he whispered, leaning in until he was only an inch away. Her hair tickled his face and neck, turning his veins on edge. Leaning forward, he blew air through her lips.

He wasn't sure how many times he'd done so when he heard a noise come out of her. Shocked and confused, Alex jolted up, heart racing and eyes wide. Everyone's eyes snapped to her.

And then Sky, beautiful and radiant as always, opened her eyes, coughing and gasping for air. Meghan rushed to her side, patting her back until she hacked all the water out. At last, the girl stared at him and him only, her irises seeming to capture all the sunsets in the world, pooled together in harmonious content.

"You-you-" she started accusingly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at his lips.

Alex couldn't help but laugh, relief washing over him more than defeating the eel had. "No. I saved your life."

Slowly, she stood up, her eyes trailing from him to the dozens of people on the deck. "What happened?"

Sean filled her in on the whole encounter, the others too tired to explain. When he was done, Alex gave her a quick introduction of the crew and ordered everyone to finish cleaning the ship before bed. As the others rushed off, he looked back at Sky.

She hugged herself, shaking from the cold water that clung to her skin and clothes. "Now what?"

"Now," Alex grinned knowingly, gesturing to the flooded dungeon. "We figure out your sleeping arrangements."

* * *

Sky wasn't sure what exactly had gone down an hour before. She remembered the intense swaying of the ship, leaving her no choice but to latch onto the cell bars. It wasn't much later before she heard the roaring noises, and something jolted into the ship, causing ocean water to flow into the dungeon at a rapid pace. But of course, there was nothing to do to prevent the flood. Sky couldn't swim; many who lived on Warbler couldn't.

Before she knew it, the icy cold water was rushing into her cell, freezing her veins. Bewildered as she was by the death-threatening event, Sky attempted to climb the bars when the water rose higher. Trying to stay afloat was a difficult feat for someone who had never swum before, and she was glad when the world went black and she didn't have to worry about breathing again.

When she opened her eyes again, she was met with the sun lowering onto the horizon, the ship in ruins, and a crowd around her.

Not only was the captain there, but Meghan and Lani were too, along with a dozen unrecognizable faces, all drenched from head to toe. A boy in his twenties, Sean, had done the honors of explaining what went on. And based on her situation, it seemed that the dungeons would no longer be a sleeping option for her.

The news came with much excitement. Not just for Sky, but also the crew. As they did their best to patch up the ship, many of them stole more than a few glances her way. She guessed it wasn't very common for them to have prisoners, judging by their curious expressions.

Sky was more than ready to be out of the dungeons, anyway, and recognized the turn of events as a sign of luck. This way, she could be out in the fresh sea breeze, feeling the sunshine and looking at something other than a dark cell.

Captain Alex had gone off to the ships conference room with a few "close confidants" to discuss her new sleeping quarters. It'd been ten minutes since they'd left, and she waited with growing impatience on the staircase, watching the crew busy themselves. Despite the ship being partly destroyed, it was beautiful: shining colorful stones embedded in the railings, large white sails blowing gently in the breeze, and intricate designs carved on the wooden floor.

She immediately regretted admiring the pirate ship, as beautiful as it seemed. Her mother and Crow were being held captive by the most horrific of all pirates, and were mostly likely being tortured while she was having a far easier time.

She missed her mother more than anything, with her loving hugs, sharp words, and kind smile. Her mother wanted the best for her daughter, shaping her into the young lady she was meant to be. It wasn't what Sky ever wanted, but now she wouldn't mind living through that insufferable lifestyle of tight corsets and straightened backs if it meant seeing her mother again.

Fearful thoughts crept into her head as she wondered how her younger brother was coping. Crow, in all his quiet innocence, had not yet even turned fourteen. He could be annoying, sure, but he held a strength that no one could never take away. He was her brother-her beautiful lovable little brother-and he couldn't take that kind of suffering.

The door to the conference room burst open, snapping the prisoner out of her thoughts. Alex, followed by Meghan and another boy Sky had forgotten the name of walked down the stairs and joined Sky at the bottom.

"Where is it I'm staying?" she inquired, her nerves building up inside her in the presence of the captain.

Alex and the other much taller boy, Samheed, exchanged a look before Alex cleared his throat. "Okay, Sky. Our cabins our belowdecks, and each crew member shares one. That being said, there are no other options except to share a room. We'll have to get our ship repaired anyway, but the dungeons will take weeks to dry out. In the meantime, you'll be sleeping-"

"Outside?" Sky guessed. "I am your prisoner, but after going through all you've put me through, sleeping outside wouldn't be very nice."

The Samheed sighed heavily as Meghan hid a smile. He pointed to the opposite end of the ship, up the stairs, where a large bedroom was. "You aren't sleeping outside. You'll be sleeping there."

Sky turned to it, her eyes widening. "But isn't that-"

"My room?" Alex interjected, a sly tone in his voice. "Yes."

She stared at him. "Your room."

"My room," he replied. "It's that or outside."

Sky thought for a long moment. Alex's room seemed to be the only option, but she didn't like the idea of sharing a room with him. Not only was he was a pirate, but he was annoyingly attractive, and she was afraid that being in close proximity would heighten her chances of forgetting her mission to save her family. Either way, she didn't want to sleep outside, and was too unfamiliar with the rest of the crew to say no.

Finally sighing, she said, "Fine, I'll share a room with...you."

"Good luck," Meghan said, nodding her head towards Alex. "Living with him won't be pleasant."

"Don't worry," Sky assured her. "Nothing here seems to be."

The other boy, Alex's first mate, was looking at Sky with a deep frown and crinkled eyebrows. "You have no idea what unpleasant is. No idea at all."

"Well," she shot back. "I suppose I would if you'd let me free to save my family from Captain Baldhead."

"Which isn't happening," added in Alex quickly, breaking the building tension that his friend gave. "We already discussed that."

"This girl could get us all killed," said Samheed. "She could try and lead us straight to Captain Baldhead. You know what would be unpleasant? All that bloodshed."

"You may be right, but she's not a spy!" Meghan defended. "We wouldn't allow her to lead us anywhere without Alex's consent."

"I never said I would be leading you anywhere!" Sky replied. No one seemed to be listening to her.

"Come off it, Samheed," Alex growled. "I'm handling this. That won't happen. We aren't rescuing anyone from that death-trap and we aren't getting any of our crew killed."

"Not if I kill you first for holding me hostage," Sky said under her breath.

The two boys stared at each other until Samheed backed down, casting a look at Meghan. "Let's help clean up."

Sky raised an eyebrow but Alex only motioned for her to follow him. "Samheed can have a bit of a temper when it comes to things like the life the types of girls like you are used to having."

"So your saying the life I have isn't unpleasant? It's clean, it's nice, but it's not very forgiving," Sky told him.

"How so?" Alex asked as they reached the stairs leading to his quarters.

"Boys have it easy," Sky said. "But girls? Learn a thing or two about the life girls have to live and talk to me after."

"You mean Lani and Meghan?"

She looked at him to see an amused expression on his face. "Girls like _me_ , Captain. Sometimes, there are far too many rules that must be followed. And for the boys, only two. Make money, and form an alliance through marriage."

"So now your saying you don't like the life you used to have," he stated. They were now at the top of the steps, lingering at the door.

"Not true," Sky said, her irritation growing and fingers clenching. "Both this and that had their bad qualities, but that at least had a tolerable lifestyle, which I could handle."

Alex opened the door, revealing a spacious, elegant room, with a large bed in the center. A few drawers for storing clothes was on the side of the room, and a intricate rug was splayed out on the floor. A few chairs surrounded a table made of glass, where a few stacks of maps and books were piled on.

He flashed her a smile. "Can you handle the pirate life?"

Sky was too busy being amazed by his room to respond right away. A wisp of a smile formed itself on her face. "You pirates keep surprising me. But do you expect me to share a bed with you?"

"Not all pirates live on the moldy, plague-ridden ships you hear about," Alex said half-jokingly. He walked across the room and began tugging at some ropes that were suspended from the ceiling. After a few pulls, a hammock came down. " _You_ , are sleeping in my bed. I sleep in this."

"Oh," she said, guilt flooding into her. She didn't know why he was being surprisingly generous, or why he saved her life. She surely didn't deserve his very-expensive-looking bed. "You don't have to offer me your bed, really. I can take the hammock. I'm your prisoner."

"Guest," Alex corrected, surprising her once again. He combed a hand through his wet locks. "I suppose you'll be staying with us for some time. You're my guest, and trust me, I don't need the bed."

Sky deflated and walked to his bed, feeling her hand along the soft cushion and blankets. She reminded herself to not get too comfortable, since these were pirates, but something about Alex's presence calmed her. "Thank you."

His eyes flickered away from her. "You better get to bed. I'll ask Meghan or one of the other girls to send you up a nightgown."

"Girls on this ship wear nightgowns?" said Sky, cocking an eyebrow.

Alex laughed. "What did you expect? Majority of the girls here have nightgowns. They might not wear them, but they're still there."

Sky gave him a look and he returned it with a half-smile. He walked out of the room and was gone a few minutes. When he returned, he handed Sky a pair of plain white undergarments.

"Thank you," she said politely for the second time that night.

She was about to ask him to leave so she could change, but he already had. She didn't understand why Alex was now treating her with much more hospitality. He'd saved her twice. Once from an arranged marriage and once from death. Frankly, she owed him.

She knew these events would change her, she just didn't know how much. She was fearful of the way she felt when around Alex. He was dangerous and toxic, causing Sky's heart to beat at an abnormally fast pace. Boys like him had no place in society. Boys like him were also hung for their piracy, meaning than Sky couldn't get attached to him in any way. Her only goal was to save her family, and she couldn't a pirate boy who'd her kidnapped her change that.

"Why couldn't you have just let me drown?" she murmured. "This would be a lot less painful."

Sky quickly changed into the nightgown, placing the wet blouse and trousers in a bin of dirty clothes. Tentatively, she pulled away the covers of the bed and sank into a bed that felt similar to her own back home. Waves of nostalgia hit her hard, and she didn't try to push them away.

By morning, the pillow was wet with tears.

* * *

"Sky," a voice called out. "Sky, wake up."

She turned in the bed and yawned, stretching her hands out, eyes still closed. She sunk again back down into the covers, dozing peacefully. She heard a small laugh. Someone shook her back gently and she grumbled a few unladylike words.

"Come on, rich girl. Wake up," the voice said. "I've got to show you something."

Slowly, Sky opened her eyes, feeling more peaceful than she had in days. The blurry sight she saw before her morphed into Alex, his hands crossed over his chest. Most of his hair was covered by a captain hat, and he wore a fresh brown vest, loose white shirt, and a large sword in his belt. In the morning light, his eyes looked like melted chocolate.

"Get up," he said.

Sky managed to glare at him despite the earliness of the morning. "Wha-what's going on?"

"Breakfast, that's what. Not everyone is up this early, and we'll need all our energy to keep our destination in sight."

"Where are we going?" Sky asked, pulling the covers off her and sliding out of bed. She rubbed her tired eyes.

"To someone that'll repair our ship," he responded. They walked across the room and opened the door.

In the sunrise, the destruction of the ship was much more noticeable. Some pieces of it were missing, along with a chunk of the left side where the eel was attacking most. One sail was slightly ripped. A bit of monster blood littered the edge of the boat.

"Who'd repair a pirate ship?" she inquired, generally interested. "No offense. Just that, well, pirates are illegal."

"Uh huh," Alex responded, leading her down the stairs and into the kitchen. "We have a few in mind who would gladly help us out."

The minute they walked into the kitchen, the sweet aroma of eggs and sausage and any breakfast food imaginable greeted her. She found herself inhaling in the scent. Her stomach rumbled loudly. She didn't remember eating last night.

"I'll take a plate for me and our guest," Alex told the cook, Thatcher.

Thatcher flashed them his pearly whites and flipped a pancake without even looking. "You got it, Captain."

In a matter of moments, two plates were distributed to them. They journeyed back up to the deck and sat on the railing to eat. Sky tried not to, but she practically inhaled her food, shoving forkfuls of food in her mouth. Everything tasted and smelled delicious, and it was by far the best thing she'd eaten in a long time.

Alex was staring at her, mouth open.

"What?" Sky smirked. "Just because I'm hungry doesn't mean I'll use my table manners."

A slow grin formed on his face. "That is the most shocking thing I've seen you do. In fact, it warms me to know that deep in your heart, there's a girl who wants to be careless and not follow the rules of being a proper lady."

She chuckled. "This isn't careless. I do this when no one is looking, I assure you."

For some strange reason, talking with Alex was now with less tension and more light-heartedness. Every time she spoke to him, he seemed less like a kidnapper and more like a friend. She wanted to know how his stiff, proper parents produced such a child. She wanted to know how he became a pirate, and why. Most pressingly, she wanted to know why he resented Aaron so badly.

Alex was still eating. He shoved a chunk of pancake into his mouth, chewing it slowly. "I want to make you an offer."

"Offer?" Sky echoed, her eyebrows scrunching together.

He nodded. "I was wondering if you wanted to join my crew."

The expression on her face must've been one of pure shock, as he quickly continued, "You'll be staying with us for quite some time, and I know there's no way you want to go back to your old life."

Sky stared at him, her face hard. "Are you serious? You were the ones who kidnapped me, and my family is still out there. So that is a no. If this is just about preventing me from marrying your stuck-up brother...forget it."

The captain shook his head. "No-okay, maybe. Yes, I kidnapped you for a good cause. I saved you from marrying my awful twin brother and I know you don't want to marry him anyway."

He lowered his eyes and set his plate beside him. "Look, I can't stop you from wanting to save your family. I can help you, but that guy who kidnapped them is insane and murderous."

"I've been told," Sky said, pursing her lips. "If I join your crew, will you really help me? Or will everyone be against it?"

"Hard to say," Alex said. "We'd need to learn of his whereabouts first, then do a lot of strategizing. Last time I encountered him was no fun."

"You saw him in real life?"

"Yes, and I almost died escaping."

Sky looked down at her hands, fingernails filled with dirt. Her hands felt rougher than they were last week. "I'll think about it."

But she lacked conviction in her statement. Letting out a breath, she tried to convince herself there was no reason to be so tough. These people weren't trying to kill her.

At that moment, Lani and Henry approached them, plates of food in their hands. Both looked tired and bruised from last night's attack. Lani took a seat next to Sky, and Henry next to Alex.

"What are you going to think about?" Henry piped up. They'd obviously heard the last bit of their conversation when they came upstairs.

"I asked her to join our crew," Alex said. "But she is wary about her answer."

"Why do you even _want_ me to join?" Sky hissed. "I'm not even-I'm not like you. It's just another reminder that I might not be making the right choice."

"You should join," Lani said, a grin in her voice. "Really, you should. We aren't the killing, murderous type, if you couldn't tell."

Alex chuckled. "If we were, we would've left you to drown."

"I see that," Sky told them, still a bit suspicious about their friendly behavior. "But still, why would you want me? You know where I come from-"

"Is where we've all come from," Alex interrupted. "Sky, there's a million reasons to join piracy." He paused, as if reading Sky's thoughts. "It's not because I want revenge on my brother. You're more than just any girl from Warbler island. Being a pirate is what life is about, not being a wife."

Sky felt conflicted. She was drawn to living a life with adventure, and liked how each person on this ship was free to do as they pleased. She looked to Lani, but she was only nodding in agreement. "It's true. There's no better life than this."

"But...my family," Sky reminded them. "Will you help me find them?"

"It'd be hard to find where Captain Baldhead's ship is hidden," the captain said. "But if you join, I promise we'll try what we can to find them."

Henry agreed with a muffled "Yeah!"

A bit of weight felt as if it was lifting off her shoulders. If she was to join the crew, they would help her. Alex gave his word. She hoped adjusting to life here would be easy. Turns out, it didn't seem so hard.

"Join our crew," Alex said. "And you'll never, _never_ have to worry about grown up things again."

"I'll think about it," she repeated, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

* * *

A floorboard creaking in the room woke Sky that night.

One never slept well away from home and familiar people, and Sky had long ago become adjusted to home. Home became easier to find in little bits and pieces here, such as Alex's bed, which felt like a cloud. Laying still, she kept her breathing even and low, straining her eyes in the dark.

Trying not to make noise, she crept out of bed and exited the bedroom. She shivered a bit, but was delighted to feel the breeze the ocean gave off, cooling the sweat off her body. The morning sky was still dark with twinkling stars, and the moon shone down brightly on the ship.

The girl walked silently over to the staircase and leaned down, propping up her elbows and resting her chin against it. She liked the unfamiliar sound of the ocean waves hitting the ship. She found herself wishing she could hear it more often.

"Can't sleep?" a voice said from behind her.

Sky jumped, startled. She looked behind her and saw only Lani. "Oh. Yes."

Lani joined her at the rail. She wore a nightgown similar to Sky's. Her long hair was down and tangled, not a hairstyle Sky had been allowed to wear before her kidnapping. "I don't know if I can convince you, but you wanna know my advice?"

Sky listened.

"Piracy is fun, it truly is. Yes, it's dangerous, but would you rather go back to Warbler? Your island has the highest expectations for girls in your society. Why go back? Why marry someone you don't know?"

Sky sighed, looking at the other girl. "Well, that's my home. That's my life. You guys were the ones who kidnapped me, for reasons I still don't know why. The life I live has a lot of rules to follow, but that's where I grew up. I can't abandon my family, and I can't give up on them."

Lani was staring at the water. "I know where your coming from. But sometimes you have to do the things you truly want to...to get the right results."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you don't want to go back to your old life. You want to save your family, but you don't want to marry Aaron, do you?"

Sky looked down, careful with what she was about to say. "Marrying Aaron was never my choice. It was a surprise. I don't know why you guys don't want me to."

"That's for Alex to say," Lani told her simply.

"How...how do you know so much information about me? Even things I haven't told anyone..."

"Because four years ago," Lani said quietly. "I was a lot like you."

Sky looked up in surprise. "You mean..."

The girl nodded. "I lived on the island of Quill, the same island Aaron lived on. I was twelve, and I longed for adventure. I liked to sail when no one was watching. I loved the ocean and it always, well, seemed to call me to come be on it. At an early age, I taught myself to swim because I knew how many girls couldn't. I hated the way society shaped me to be, and after my..." She swallowed and almost looked like she was done speaking. "After my mother died, me and Henry got on a sailboat and started voyaging to different islands. We were recruited by Alex a few months later."

"How old was the captain when he stared his piracy?" Sky asked. She was utterly surprised that Lani would share so much personal information with her.

"Thirteen," Lani replied. "But you know what? None of us regret it. Society out there shapes you to be something you don't want. Arranged marriages...they just lead to unhappiness."

Sky nodded, thinking of Aaron. If she agreed to marry him, how long would it be before the boring routine settled in? She would be forced to obey him and stand by him, not able to speak her mind. Here, speaking her mind seemed like no issue.

At last, she said, "But what of your father? He is alone?"

Lani bit her lip. "I'm not sure any more. I suppose so...but it's complicated. I found out that he was a spy of some sorts. I never found out who he was spying for, but I knew what he was doing was bad."

"But that wasn't the reason you left," Sky guessed.

"No," the girl agreed. "My mother pushed me to be the person I am. She encouraged my love for the ocean and adventure, and before she died she made me promise I would go. She didn't want me and Henry to live a life we didn't want."

"Did..." Sky trailed off, a new thought forming in her head. "Did Henry ever have many birthday parties?"

Lani gave her a weird look. "Yes. Why?"

"My brother..." Her voice caught. "My brother, Crow, mentioned going to birthday parties every year for a boy named Henry. He never let me come with him."

Lani laughed softly, shaking her head. "That would definitely be Henry. He makes row down to a cove in Warbler island every year so he can host his silly birthday parties with friends he's made. It's a small world that your brother, of all people, attends them."

Sky smiled fondly at the thought of her brother and Henry celebrating a birthday party in a cove. Now she _really_ wished she were invited.

"I think I'll consider it," she said slowly. She looked at Lani, her expression turning serious. "The piracy, I mean. But my choice won't stop me from saving my family."

"Good," Lani replied. "I would be as driven as you to save my family if they were put at risk, I promise you that. But if we go now...especially without a plan, we'll all be dead. Captain Baldhead is _not_ a pirate you want to cross."

Sky released a deep sigh. "I know. But if I join your crew, we have to try. We _have_ to."

"No arguing against that."

Lani pulled her into a side hug, making her feel not only that she was safe, but she had just made a very wonderful friend, and there was no polite small talk involved.

* * *

It was that following afternoon when Sky had made her decision. They were two days away from reaching port, which meant there would be a lot of time to get started in the pirate business.

She wondered what was wrong with her. Before arriving here, she looked, sounded, and acted like a respectable woman of society, and on the outside, there didn't seem to be a remnant of a child left in her. The young women admired her etiquette, and the young men adored her beauty, yet Sky felt that something was missing.

Maybe this was that something.

She was smiling, but not at the warmth of the temperature or loveliness of the breeze. Sky was smiling at the thought of rebellion. It would mean nothing for a stranger but everything for her family, and she hoped they wouldn't hate her for it. No proper lady she knew had ever become a pirate or dared to step away from the clutches of society.

She emerged from the kitchen and had just eaten lunch with Meghan and Lani (who she grew closer with every passing hour) to find the captain. A bunch of the crew was out and about, some practicing sword-fighting, others laughing or hanging out. Many of the crew looked at her as she passed by, and a few of them smiled politely.

Sky spotted Captain Alex at the wheel, sharing a conversation about direction with Sean and Carina. She picked up earlier that Sean and Carina were married, since they both had rings on their fingers and both shared the same cabin. It gave Sky hope to know that two pirates could be in love without an arranged marriage needed.

Approaching them, she leaned against the rail and stood at the bottom of the staircase, waiting for the group to finish. At last, Alex made eye contact with her and excused himself. He closed the distance between them in a few long strides. Sky did not know why, and she never would have admitted it, but the sight of this young man made her feel short of breath, something she surely had not felt with any other.

"What's up?" Alex asked, fingering his belt.

"After much thought, I made my decision," she replied, crossing her arms.

"Oh," he replied, his eyes boring into hers. She knew he was expecting her to say no. "What is it, then? Your not going to join because you don't want to get dirty?"

"Oh, ha ha. Funny," Sky sneered. She licked her lips and furrowed her brows, a small, nervous smile creeping onto her face. "What would my mother think of my becoming a pirate?"

His expression brightened, a smile blossoming on his face. "You- _what?_ Why the change in heart?"

She laughed for the first time in weeks. "Not a change of heart. Just a change of direction."

Alex beamed and unsheathed his sword. He took her hand and laced her fingers over the handle. The coolness of the blade and the touch of his hands greeted her with a warm satisfaction. "Then a pirate you shall be. How does tomorrow morning sound for our first lesson?"


	15. The Afterlife

The girl had woken standing up...with her eyes open.

It was a strange sensation, as if she'd been sleepwalking and had forgotten to go back to bed. The strange thing was-she didn't even remember going to sleep. Had she fainted, then? Had she been walking for so long she forgot where she was going? But that couldn't be true, because the way she woke up, she hadn't been walking. She'd been standing, as if she just materialized out of thin air.

A breeze blew into the girl, but she couldn't tell if it was warm or cold. The sun shone directly overhead, bigger and brighter than she'd ever seen it. In every direction to the end of the horizon was a cloudless blue sky. Sunspots lingered in her eyes, blurring her vision. She took a step, then another, and another. She only had walked a few paces before her eyesight returned to normal. She looked around.

She had no idea where she was.

If she'd woken up standing, how could she be here, in the middle of a road seemingly leading to nowhere? She blinked a few more times, clearing the remaining sunspots. She appeared to be in a countryside, and there was no sign of life. There was only fields of fresh grass along either side of her. Trees, larger than she'd ever seen them, dotted the landscape.

She frowned, a feeling of panic growing in her chest. Where was she? Where was she going? Where had everyone gone?

Who was "everyone"? She felt a deep sense of community and love when she heard that word, but she had no recollection from it. She thought hard. She willed the answer to come to her, but nothing did. No memories came. In fact, she didn't remember anything before arriving here. She didn't remember anything from her childhood. She didn't remember celebrating holidays or going on vacations. She didn't remember having a mother or a father, or if she'd ever had a sibling. She didn't remember having any friends. She didn't remember having her first kiss. She didn't remember having sleepovers, full of pillow fights and popcorn. She didn't remember the simple things like dancing in the rain or eating ice cream. She didn't even remember having fun. She didn't remember doing anything a girl her age would do. Not one memory.

Tears pricked in the corners of her eyes as she realized one most apparent thing: she didn't know her name.

"My...my...name..." she spoke aloud, her voice coming out dry and hoarse as if she hadn't spoken in a long time. It sounded pathetic. Seriously, when was the last time she drank water? She stood there for three seconds or three months, but in the end, any previous thoughts she'd had would not come back to her.

The girl reached up and tugged at the tight bun in the back of her head until it came loose. She picked up a curl of hair and brought it to her face. It was the color of flames. Even something as simple as the color of hair was something her mind failed to remember.

She walked on and on, singing a song she had never heard the words to. As she went, she stared at the ugly gray flats that matched the plain gray dress she wore. She wondered if it was her idea to wear those or if someone made her do it. She frowned at the thought of choosing this boring outfit. She must've had a bad sense of style.

That was when she heard the scream. A child's screaming. It echoed across the plains.

She jumped and looked up, upalled to see a very small neighborhood had appeared before her. It was desolate, with a few trees and even fewer blades of grass. Ahead of her, blocking the middle of the road was a giant tree with branches that stretched wide across the sky.

In the tree, a young boy who couldn't have been more than a child was causing all the screaming. He sat at the highest branch, hugging the trunk for dear life. Oh, the girl realized. He was afraid of heights.

"Father...father!" the boy called. His cries grew louder, but nobody came.

The girl wondered if he'd recognize her. He could've been her cousin or brother for all she knew.

She ran to the trees edge and hopped to the first branch. "Don't worry, I'll get you down!"

She climbed up the tree as if she'd done this many times before. It felt natural, easy almost, to her.

"I'm coming!" she shouted up the tree.

If the boy heard her, he didn't say anything. He kept screaming and crying for his father, looking terrified.

She hoisted herself up to the highest branch, her arms shaking only slightly. She steadied herself against the trunk and looked over at the boy. His shirt, gray like hers, was torn and caught on a branch. As soon as the girl started to untangle him, the child jumped in terror and let loose a scream that nearly broke her eardrums.

"Goat!" he wailed. "Help!"

At least that's what it sounded like.

The girl bent down and put her hands on his shoulders to soothe him. "Shh. You're okay! I'm here to help."

The boy stood frozen in fear, wrapping his arms around the tree even tighter. She held her hand out to him. "Take my hand. I'll carry you down."

When he didn't respond, the girl grabbed his arm and pried him from the trunk. She expertly wrapped one arm around his waist as she scaled down the tree. The boy never stopped crying, yelling for his father and goats.

The girl grunted when they made a slightly hard landing on the dirt. She rubbed her sore muscles.

"Are you okay?" she called to the boy.

But when she looked up, he was running towards a little gray shack, where his father stood. The girl felt a sing of pain looking at the boy's father. There never was a time when she had positive feelings towards parents. She couldn't tell if that was her opinion or from memories.

She rolled her eyes and picked herself up. She waved to the family to get their attention, but just like the boy, they completely ignored her. "Wow. No "'thank you?'"

She huffed and kicked a large pebble into a nearby puddle. It made a big splash and got the ends of her long dress wet. "Yuck."

The girl grunted again. As she shook water off her dress, she examined the puddle. It was the only sign of water she'd seen, although it was far too muddy to drink. Looking closer at it, she could see the blue sky above and the sun shining.

She frowned as she stood right over it. There was something wrong. Her heart filled with dread as she realized two things.

1\. It was a perfectly sunny day, yet she cast no shadow.

2\. Water was supposed to catch reflections, right? She could see everything in it: the sky, the birds flying overhead, and the tree that she climbed.

But there was one reflection she couldn't see: her own.

 _Not goat,_ she thought.

 _Ghost._

* * *

She thought she could not have felt more lost. She was wrong.

The world loomed before her, bewildering in its simple, utter vastness. The overcast skies made the plains feel more bleak and dreary. Every once in a while, she passed a small gray shack, hidden behind a thick fog. There was only one thing to do: walk forward and hope for something, _anything,_ that would give her purpose for being here.

How had she died? Why was she here?

She supposed it only made sense once she thought about it; a place like this wasn't _real._ How could it be?

 _All right_ , the girl told herself as she took step after step. _Breathe. Focus. One thing at a time._ She'd been repeating that to herself since…well, as long as she remembered.

Through the fog, a gateway appeared. It didn't look like it was particularly leading to anything, but it was going somewhere. Cautiously, she entered, eyes straining to see the pathway that had just appeared in front of her. As she walked on, she began to notice the world was a little more lively and colorful than before. Trees as tall as skyscrapers lined up on the sides of the pathway. The path began getting more detailed, turning from a faded gray to a pearly white. The fog too began fading away, until visible blue skies could be seen. She felt a warm brush of air tousle her hair.

Abruptly, the pathway ended and grass, greener than she'd ever seen, formed at her feet. There was now a field, with flowers and thousands of trees dotting everywhere. She felt her feet leave the ground. She was running.

A welcoming breeze blew into her as she ran, the scent of it taking her worries away. Every color stood out to her; from the deep, forestry greens of plants to the blues of the sky and sea. To the left was a calm sea with a strand of beach running along it. Far off in the distance was a jungle, vast and loud. Water fountains seemed to emerge from the earth as she approached her destination, wherever this was. She felt a desire well up inside her. She needed to go home, and this place was surely that.

All at once, an enormous mansion appeared in the middle of all the commotion. Walking along the grass were dozens of people, all pointing to each other, pointing at _her._

She stopped, gawking stupidly at the beauty of this whole place. This was, without a doubt, much better than the gray countryside she left behind.

A man, tall and thin, began walking towards her. He wore a robe that went down to his feet, doused in bright colors and patterns. He had a shock of white hair on his head, yet somehow looked ageless for an old man. As he neared, the girl could see he was smiling. She smiled back.

"Meghan," he uttered, and she felt as though a strong wind had blown into her. Every single memory from her past life came to her. "Welcome to Artime. How does it feel to be-"

"Eliminated?" she finished.

Mr. Today laughed. _"Home."_

Meghan breathed in the fresh scent of grass and dirt, then peaked over his shoulder to see everyone watching her. She chuckled breathlessly. She felt more alive than she had since she came to Artime. Maybe ever. "It feels like freedom."

"It certainly does, Ms. Ranger."

She scanned his face for any troubled emotions. "Do you miss it?"

The old man looked down. "Not a single day goes by that I don't. But this is the _real_ Artime. It might not have the same friends as the world of living did, but our home now lives on forever, always here to welcome the Artimeans back."

"It seems ten times more beautiful than it ever was," said Meghan softly. Yes, she missed her friends. She didn't nearly get enough time with them. But now it was time to wait.

"It truly is," the Mage agreed. "Now, lets go inside. I'll introduce you to the others."

They climbed up the lawn and were greeted on all sides by people Meghan had never met. Had all of them died in battle?

"Hello, hello," a woman said as she followed Mr. Today through the front door.

Meghan was too busy staring to respond. The inside was bigger, and ten times grander than it used to be. The wide marble staircase was exactly the same, branching off into two stairways before connecting to a balcony. The only thing that made the mansion seem empty was the lack of statues.

As they entered the lounge, Mr. Today clapped his hands to silence the crowd of people who'd followed them in. Really, there weren't that many as Meghan thought there were. At least fifty or so.

"Everyone, this is Meghan Ranger," he said. "Meghan, everyone."

"Hi."

"Your hair is a stunning color," an older woman wearing huge black glasses purred.

"It is!" said a young boy.

"We are all friends to Artime," one of the men said. "And we've known our Mage since forever."

"Meghan Ranger? You're a friend of my daughter's?" spoke up a woman with dark hair and blue eyes. Instantly, Meghan recognized her as Lani's mother.

She smiled. "Yes. She misses you."

"I hope we could watch over Lani sometime," Ms. Haluki said.

Meghan turned to Mr. Today. "What does she mean 'watch over'?"

There was a glint in his eyes. "I will show you. Follow me, if you may."

"Okay. Goodbye, everyone!"

"Goodbye," they all chorused back.

She followed him to the tubes, where he punched in her name into a keyboard instead of pressing a certain number. Instantly, the scene changed. She took a deep breath, then stepped inside. She was back in her own room, like nothing had shifted. Except _it had_.

Mr. Today led her over to her desk, where a strange object sat. It looked like a small round jar, except there was no opening on the top. Mist floated inside the jar and bumped against the walls, as if trying to escape.

"This is called a Looking Glass. Say a name or a place, and you can watch anything going on in the land of living. If you need your friends or brother, you can watch them through here anytime."

"Wow. Thank you, Mr. Today, " she breathed, feeling relieved she wouldn't have to be truly separated from the people she knew and loved.

"Of course," the old man beamed. "Get settled in and enjoy yourself. If you have questions, just come to me."

He started back towards the tube. Meghan blinked, looking up from her desk. "Wait! What do you think would've happened if you hadn't gone to Quill that day?"

He turned, brushing at hand on his chin. "There is no sense asking the "what if's". What matters is the present, our time here. I am very proud of Alex for stepping up, becoming who he is meant to be. Things are always meant to change. We can't control what happens."

She stared at him, realizing just how much she missed the Mage's quirky attitude and constant words of wisdom. "Alex would've needed to hear that."

"He's growing into a strong leader," said Mr. Today, smiling. "He doesn't need to hear anything until he has come here. I hope it would be a very, very long time from now."

"Yes," Meghan agreed, waving goodbye to him before he vanished through the tube.

She took a look around her room, all at once feeling incredibly peaceful. There wasn't a thing she regretted. Just because she had died didn't mean she was going to be unhappy. The day that her loved ones would join her felt light years away, but right in this moment she was back in Artime and it was so beautiful here that it hurt. She would be alright, and she hoped her friends would be too.

"Alex Stowe," she spoke into the Looking Glass. It was time to start.


End file.
